848
6.
It will be read with interest by followers of the turf in Hongkong that in the old days the race programmes were produced in three different forms. There was, first, the official list of races with the respective entries for each race; they were, as they are now, intended for owners and jockeys and can be suitably designated the first edition. Then the programme in foolscap size, which was in card form and for each day on a distinctive cardboard; and, lastly, the programme in book form, which in the old days contained a section also for recording the particulars of each selling lottery with a column for drawers of ponies and another for buyers' names.
When reference is made to the selling lottery, it should be stated that, in the non-restriction days, selling lotteries were conducted by a number of Clubs in the Colony, including the Hongkong Club and the Lusitano Club. Mr. W. Moore was one of the residents who ran selling lotteries. He was the founder of the barbers' firm of Messrs. Campbell, Moore and Co., Ltd.
To distinguish the special Lady's programme from the others, it was printed on sateen such as you describe in the notes in your Monday's contribution. With each race meeting, more elaborate and artistic designs were introduced, so that, year after year, these programmes became more and more a work of art, specialising in their more attractive features, embroidery in silk which was ornamented with bullion and gold tinsel borders and tassels. I can recall these special programmes of the late 1900's of the last century and the early years of the present, and I can recall also the young lady to whom was entrusted the special job of embellishing these programmes by the firm of Jockey Club printers.
The lady was a distinguished pupil of the Italian Convent, who for several years in succession took the first prize, in embroidery, in the convent school at Caine Road. She is still alive, and has been for many years a resident of Shanghai.
When the Jockey Club introduced the Lady's programme in a diminutive form, with tinted cardboard covers and a lithographed reproduction of the old grand stand in colours on the front cover, the practice of the sateen gift programme was allowed to lapse. For old patrons of the races in Hongkong, the passing of this pleasing custom is looked upon with regret; for it was regarded as a fitting act of gallantry to the young lady who is invariably selected from among the distinguished ladies, either resident or passing through Hongkong, to be favoured with the special gift from the Stewards of the Hongkong Jockey Club. If the stewards should chance to read these lines, they may decide to revive a custom both as pleasing in its form as it is complimentary to the lady consenting to present to the winning jockey the coveted prize of the Purse contributed by the ladies of the Colony.