Chapter 637 Solemn

Five days later, on Sunday, the sky was clear and the air was fresh, making it a perfect day for horse racing.

When Xia Yu and Bao Yugang and the others arrived at the Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories again, tens of thousands of spectators had already entered the venue.

I say again because four days ago Xia Yu transported the two horses Red Hare and Black Colt to Sha Tin Racecourse, where he selected a trainer with solid skills and two jockeys with excellent riding skills.

The trainer's responsibilities are to train and take care of the horses, as well as manage the stable operations, while the races are handled by professional jockeys.

A jockey may ride different horses in a day's races, but with Xia Yu and Bao Yugang's energy, they naturally assigned two more professional jockeys to be in charge of Xia Yu's two horses.

This time, Xia Yu's two horses were both entered in the race.

Today, because it is a special large-scale horse race, many bigwigs have brought out their favorite horses for a walk. There are many entries, so there will be sixteen races today, instead of the usual ten, and the schedule is even more tightly packed, making it even more exciting.

Each race has fourteen horses participating, which means that there will be 224 horses participating today.

Xia Yu's two horses were randomly assigned to different races, with Red Hare in the second race and Black Stallion in the sixth race.

When Xia Yu and Bao Yugang and the others arrived at the best three-story open-air grandstand at the racetrack, they suddenly noticed many familiar faces, all of them big shots from all walks of life, or high-ranking political officials, and of course most of them were British.

When Xia Yu, Bao Yugang and Huo Yingdong, the three top Chinese gangsters, entered, the noisy conversations in the grandstand suddenly quieted down.

Many people then greeted Xia Yu with smiles on their faces, and even those who didn't come over still nodded and smiled at Xia Yu and the others in acknowledgement.

'Mr Xia, Mr Bao, Mr Huo, good morning everyone!'

'Good morning, Mr Smith!'

'Xia Sheng, welcome.'

...

Everyone shook hands enthusiastically and exchanged pleasantries, creating a lively scene. Some of the British people observing from the sidelines looked solemn, because they saw Xia Yu's terrifying popularity. Many bigwigs were surrounding him, shaking hands and saying hello.

'Xia Sheng, welcome to the team!'

'Shen Sheng, long time no see!'

Xia Yu and Shen Bi shook hands and exchanged greetings.

Before coming, Bao Yu had just told him about the current situation of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has a chairman and 12 directors, with the chairman being none other than HSBC Chairman Shen Bi, who was elected to the position at the beginning of the year.

Of the 12 directors, only four are Chinese, namely Luo Cheng, son of Luo Wenjin of the Luo family and current head of the family; Li Mingze, eldest son of Lee Hysan of the Lee family; Li Fuhe of the Li family, a political and business family that founded the Bank of East Asia; and He Tian, one of the founders of Hang Seng Bank and a permanent member of the board of directors of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

However, of these four people, I wonder if they haven't all arrived yet. The only ones who came over to greet Xia Yu were He Tian and Li Fuhe, both of whom had previously had dealings with Xia Yu.

'Mr Xia, when everyone has arrived, you will need to come up on stage for a simple welcome ceremony,'

Shen Bi said with a smile.

Although he had known it before, Xia Yu still looked surprised and said, 'There's no need to make it so grand. Just including me as a voting member is already exceptional, and holding a welcome ceremony for me is flattering!'

'Xia Sheng, you're saying that your joining has made the Jockey Club shine, and we were worried that a simple welcome ceremony would be too unrefined,'

He Tian, with a head full of white hair, laughed happily.

...

As the conversation continued, the time gradually passed. The racecourse, which could hold 80,000 people, was almost full. Xia Yu looked down from a high place. The surrounding area was packed with people, with hardly any empty seats to be seen. Betting points set up all over the racecourse were also packed with people, which showed the public's enthusiasm for horse racing.

At this time, there were also several hundred people in the grandstand, all of them the top elites from all walks of life in Hong Kong, the essence of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Just before the race was about to start, Shen Bide ascended the central stage, and then appeared on a huge screen in the centre of the racecourse. The noisy venue gradually quietened down, and almost everyone looked at the large screen in the centre to see what Shen Bide wanted to say.

'Good morning, distinguished guests and dear friends of the public, I am Shen Bide, Chairman of the Jockey Club.'

'Before the upcoming race begins, I have an important announcement to make.'

'Our Jockey Club has once again welcomed a heavyweight member. I believe everyone here has heard of his name. Next, let's give him a warm call and applause as he comes to the stage.'

After saying this, Shen Bo looked to the left of the stage with a smile.

Hundreds of top members in the grandstand smiled and applauded, while the 80,000 spectators at the racecourse also looked forward to it with anticipation and curiosity in their hearts.

Some of the more observant people carefully studied the 224 horses entered in the race today and discovered that Xia Yu's name was among the owners' information. They wondered if it was the stock market god Xia Yu.

In the grandstand, Xia Yu didn't expect Shen Bi to introduce him in front of everyone, and even invite him to the stage, not to mention on the big screen that could be seen by the whole audience.

Such a move cannot be considered anything but grand. Xia Yu was a little overwhelmed, but he also knew that as the chairman, Shen Bo also used his fame. After what he did, there was no doubt that Xia Yu would be on the front page of the Jockey Club for a while, and the reputation of the Jockey Club would reach new heights.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Xia Yu no longer hesitated and walked onto the stage with a steady pace.

'Wow!'

'Isn't that the stock god Xia Yu?'

'It really is. How come he didn't join the Jockey Club before?'

'He really is a heavyweight. It's hard to find a tycoon in Hong Kong who is more famous than him. I didn't expect him to be so young...'

'The stock god rarely appears in public. I didn't expect to see him here today. This must be my lucky day. I have to quickly place another hundred bets. I'll count on the stock god to make me rich!'

...

As Xia Yu's figure appeared on the big screen, there was an immediate burst of chatter and gasps of surprise all around the racetrack.

Listening to the noisy sounds of the racetrack, Shen Bi's mouth curled up slightly, very satisfied with the effect.

After Xia Yu stood next to him, he said with a smile, 'Mr Xia, why don't you say a few words to everyone?'

Xia Yu nodded with a smile, looked straight ahead, and said in a calm and confident voice, 'Hello everyone, I'm Xia Yu, and I'm honoured to join the Jockey Club and become family with everyone.'

'I didn't expect Chairman Shen to have prepared such a grand welcome ceremony for me. It's both unexpected and touching. Thank you for the warm welcome!'

'Finally, I sincerely wish the Jockey Club every success and prosperity to all its members. I wish all of you here good luck and great wealth!

'Thank you!'

After saying this, Xia Yuju bowed, and the scene suddenly erupted into loud cheers and applause.

'Good!'

'Clap, clap...'

In particular, the spectators sitting around the racetrack, many of whom had to hear Xia Yuju's blessings, were so excited that they ran to the betting points to place additional bets, which immediately drove the people nearby to place additional bets as well.

For a while, the betting points located around the racetrack were packed with people.

Today's horse race was also broadcast live on Global TV, and many viewers in front of the TV were also affected, picking up the phone to place bets.

In the grandstand, Xia Yu, who had already left the field, was surrounded by many people, and Shen Bo on stage looked at the time and said loudly, 'Please get ready, the first race is about to start!'