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HKJC grants performance award to Hong Kong Eventing Team for winning bronze medal at Asian Games

09/26/2014

Hong Kong’s Eventing Team, newly sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club, won a team bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games today (26 September) in Korea.  This is the city’s first-ever medal in the eventing competition of the Asian Games. In recognition of the team’s success, the Club announced it would grant a performance award of HK$30,000 to each member of the team, comprising Nicole Pearson, Annie Ho and Thomas Ho.

Annie Ho said she and her team-mates would like to thank the Club for its strong support to the local riders and equestrian sport in general. “We are glad that the Club went a stage further by extending its sponsorship to cover the Hong Kong eventing team,” she commented. “The Club’s sponsorship has helped us concentrate on training and prepared us well for this once-every-four-years event. It has been one of the keys to our success in Incheon. I hope this medal will also serve to promote the sport of eventing to the local public.”

The three-day eventing competition, which began on Wednesday, was staged at the Dream Park Equestrian Venue at Incheon, with seven teams participating. Hong Kong was able to win the team bronze medal after steady performances from the three riders in all three eventing disciplines – dressage, cross-country and jumping. An outstanding performance from team member Annie Ho placed her fourth in the individual competition. 

The Club has long been dedicated to promoting equestrian sport in Hong Kong and raising the standards of local riders. The HKJC Equestrian Team and Junior Equestrian Team were established in late 2008, following Hong Kong's successful staging of the equestrian events of the Beijing Olympics, which featured a Hong Kong representative team for the first time. Last August, it announced a further substantial commitment to extend its support for another 3½ years. New sponsorship elements and professional equestrian expertise from overseas have also been added to enhance the standards of the Hong Kong equestrian teams and local development of the sport, including extending the sponsorship to cover the Hong Kong eventing team.

These commitments have already paid off handsomely.  During the past five years, Club-sponsored riders have achieved a number of historic results for Hong Kong including individual gold and bronze jumping medals and a team bronze at the Jinan 2009 National Games; a silver medal at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics; a jumping team bronze at the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games; and a jumping individual silver medal at the Shenyang 2013 National Games.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class horse racing operator and Hong Kong’s largest community benefactor, as well as one of Asia’s most prestigious membership clubs. Operating as a not-for-profit organisation, the Club allocates its surplus for charitable and community projects. In 2013/14, its donations reached a record $3.6 billion, and in the last decade alone it supported over 1,275 projects. The Club is also Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer, contributing a record HK$19.58 billion in 2013/14. With about 70% of its revenue given back to society every year through donations and tax contributions, The Hong Kong Jockey Club delivers a significantly higher return to the community than any other racing and/or sports betting organisation in the world. As a socially responsible organisation, the Club helps Government combat illegal betting and advocates responsible gambling. The Club is also one of Hong Kong’s largest employers with over 24,800 full-time and part-time staff. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong eventing team wins a team bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games today in Korea. In recognition of their success, the Club announced it would grant a performance award of HK$30,000 to each member of the team, comprising Nicole Pearson (middle), Annie Ho (right) and Thomas Ho (left).
The Hong Kong eventing team wins a team bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games today in Korea. In recognition of their success, the Club announced it would grant a performance award of HK$30,000 to each member of the team, comprising Nicole Pearson (middle), Annie Ho (right) and Thomas Ho (left).

Club Steward Michael Lee (2nd right), who is also Vice President of Hong Kong Equestrian Federation, joins the Hong Kong eventing team after the presentation.
Club Steward Michael Lee (2nd right), who is also Vice President of Hong Kong Equestrian Federation, joins the Hong Kong eventing team after the presentation.

An outstanding performance from Hong Kong eventing team member Annie Ho placed her fourth in the individual competition.  Afterwards, Ho expressed her thanks to the Club for its strong support to the local riders and sport in general, saying the Cluba£į?s sponsorship had been one of the keys to the teama£į?s success in Incheon.
An outstanding performance from Hong Kong eventing team member Annie Ho placed her fourth in the individual competition. Afterwards, Ho expressed her thanks to the Club for its strong support to the local riders and sport in general, saying the Cluba£į?s sponsorship had been one of the keys to the teama£į?s success in Incheon.

Former Club Riding Instructor Nicole Pearson, pictured here in the jumping competition, performs steadily throughout to help the team to win a medal.
Former Club Riding Instructor Nicole Pearson, pictured here in the jumping competition, performs steadily throughout to help the team to win a medal.

Thomas Ho, pictured riding in the eventing event, is the youngest member of the team and this was his first competition at international level, but his performance was as top-class as that of his team-mates.
Thomas Ho, pictured riding in the eventing event, is the youngest member of the team and this was his first competition at international level, but his performance was as top-class as that of his team-mates.

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