Hong Kong racing season off to ‘satisfactory, acceptable’ start after week of freak weather, says Jockey Club CEO

The 2023-24 Hong Kong racing season got off to a “satisfactory, acceptable” start as turnover took a hit on a day following hot on the heels of some of the worst weather the city has ever seen.

Both Super Typhoon Saola and Thursday night’s deluge caused the closure of Sha Tin’s tracks in the past 10 days, interrupting opening-day preparations for Hong Kong’s horses and contributing to field sizes being significantly down.

While 132 gallopers graced the Sha Tin turf 12 months ago, only 97 stepped out across Sunday’s 10 races and betting turnover was down 7.4 per cent year on year, although that number jumps to almost 14 per cent when disregarding the two simulcast races offered from Korea.

The HK$1.206 billion wagered on the races in Hong Kong was the lowest for a season opener since 2015.

“Coming to the race meeting itself, one of the key factors was the challenges with field sizes,” Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Jockey Club CEO, said.

“We had 30 per cent less horses this year than last year, and that’s definitely due to the fact that for three days our horses couldn’t be prepared. The number of horses is key to turnover. Under the given circumstances, it’s an expected result.”

While Thursday night’s downpour cast some doubt on whether the meeting would go ahead, the Sha Tin track held together remarkably well, and by the end of the afternoon the weather was perfect for spectators.

“The races themselves were competitive, we had a very good atmosphere and we had 32,562 people on track, which I think is a good result under the given circumstances,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

“Interestingly, around 7 to 8 per cent of our visitors came from the mainland to experience Hong Kong racing. I would call it a ‘satisfactory, acceptable’ start. We’re still optimistic even if turnover-wise the start wasn’t what we had last year.

“I would still stay that given the quality of Hong Kong racing and the enthusiasm of our customers, while we’ll have a challenging season without doubt, we’ll have a successful season.”

Early rain ensured the crowd took time to build, but by the time it was over, Sha Tin had welcomed the largest opening-day crowd since 2019 after three Covid-affected seasons.

Despite more than 600mm of rain in the lead-up to Sunday’s meeting, the turf track stood up to the battering, which Andrew Harding, the Jockey Club’s executive director of racing, said was “testament to the world-class nature of our tracks team”.

A steady stream of people began to arrive 90 minutes before the first race was expected to start, with plenty of punters eagerly studying form guides, the odds and starters lists ahead of placing their first bets of the new season.

The city’s continued recovery from the flooding meant the city’s leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, was unable to witness Victor The Winner claim the feature race, the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup, or champion jockey Zac Purton get his season off to a flyer with three wins.

But plenty of people were there to watch Jockey Club chairman Michael Lee strike the gong to herald the start of the new year, including 92-year-old Jimmy Lee, who said he had been coming to the racecourse for almost 40 years.

“It’s just a game of numbers, just be calm when placing bets,” he said. “Betting on horses is much easier than Mark VI for sure because there are only few horses versus 49 numbers.”

Fans new and old swelled the crowd throughout the day, and several tour groups were seen heading into the grounds as the start time for the first race, the Mount Parker Handicap at 12.25pm, neared.

Aretha Chui a fitness trainer who lives in the US, was back in Hong Kong visiting her family, with her boyfriend who had never been to the city before.

The 30-year-old said her father had been betting on horses for a long time, but rarely made the trip to the racecourse, and had given the couple HK$500 each to bet with.

“It’s my first time at the racecourse, I worked here once for an event but I was up there in the [members’] boxes last time,” she said. “I have never watched from this close obviously but the atmosphere right now is less exciting than I expected, perhaps it’s still too early hopefully it’s gonna be better.”