DO YOU SENSE MAGIC IN THE AIR, HONG KONG?
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
First things first: When Joao Moreira won the 2012 Longines International Jockeys Championship, this was the first time many of us in Hong Kong had ever seen the person known as “the magic man” ride though he was champion jockey in neighbouring Singapore.
Never had many of us who are not “horsey” people seen a rider so in harmony with a horse and so aerodynamically born to ride. It really was wonderful to watch something almost balletic.
I remember after the races that night, seeing he and his wife Tatiana standing alone in the corner of the HKJC club known as Adrenaline and walked up, congratulated him on his win and told him something incredibly dumb like how he might do pretty well in Hong Kong and to perhaps think about moving to the city. Joao might have smirked to himself or stifled a giggle.
These were the early days of Happy Wednesday and what really mattered to me, because I had much riding on these Wednesdays which were originally called Sassy Wednesday being successful, was to create something that changed the game. Copycat anything was going against my church of creative ethics.
Being a good A&R person, I achieved this by taking immense care and pride in the music and musicians chosen to perform at the two different venues at Happy Valley racecourse and along with various themed nights gave the racing product and customer experience a completely new, well, vibe.
It was about reading the audience and communicating with them as most had never been to the races before, and there was a need to make them feel that they were part of a community- a new generation of racegoers who were young, aspirational and knew what they wanted.
I sometimes watch what is a Happy Wednesday today and want to weep and laugh and scream all at once at the television. When a performer cannot sing a bad version of “Celebration” almost in tune, that’s not good.
To use someone else’s term to describe what the HKJC is passing off as “entertainment” these days, the end product is “shambolic”.
As for Joao Moreira, it was no surprise that it didn’t take long before the Brazilian magic man arrived in Hong Kong. The red carpet was rolled out for him, he had someone named Jeremy Greene from the Club helping him get rides, and with his charisma, very streetwise ways of charming the racing media, overnight, he made such a huge impact on how the world saw horse racing in the city.
During my twelve years working with the HKJC and its “nearly fine” CEO, I interviewed Joao many times.
Especially during the Covid years, our free flowing interviews covered so much ground about life and depression, and maybe how we were changing as human beings, and talking about life outside of the horse racing bubble.
Maybe it was therapeutic for the both of us?
I was getting over a messy breakup with a Danish girl who had flipped my life around in Hong Kong, Universal Music in London were asking me to return to the music world and I was pretty much adrift in a sea of uncertainty and trying to navigate my way regarding how I floated my boat through the currents of negativity.
I had a very strong relationship with Max Hole, below, the global head of International at Universal for whom I had given him quite a big hit before moving to EMI Music- having the great Michael McDonald sing The Best Of Motown to the tune of sales of 15 million units. Going back would have been easy. But to do the same thing?
As for Happy Wednesday, it was always going to be what it was. There was very little wiggle room to manoeuvre, because this is how horse racing is structured and not exactly something that offers one the freedom to change things around like the virtual band Gorillaz-and who I dearly wanted to work with- does and keep challenging one’s self to outrun the chasing pack.
This was starting to make me think and rethink everything and often get lost with the gorillas in the mist and felt opportunities slipping away, me becoming comfortably numb, and the greed factor too often associated with horse racing in Hong Kong, chiming in and climbing into bed with me.
Joao Moreira and Zac Purton became The Joao and Zac Show, Hong Kong racing fans enjoyed it and there were various times when I really didn’t know nor cared who was staying and who was going or retiring and who was ailing more than the other person.
I was just interested in what I wanted to commit myself to doing next and which definitely wasn’t being a charter member of the HKJC Theatre Of Rhubarbs.
As someone who’s still very much involved in marketing, communications and advertising- and living- it will be interesting to see which Joao Moreira returns to Hong Kong as stable jockey for my friend and Caspar Fownes.
The dynamics between him and the hierarchy of the HKJC should be interesting whereas, more importantly to me is how this game will be played against the backdrop of a very different Hong Kong needing the magic elixir of youth and creativity to get back on track.
Meanwhile, the world is twitching nervously waiting for something it hasn’t seen or heard before. This cannot be achieved if the Batmobile is stuck in Reverse. It’s all about not taking the easy route and repeating what’s come before. It’s about always trying to break new ground.
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