NEWS

Hong Kong racing excels on the world stage during a stunning 2023/24 season, reinforcing its reputation as one of Hong Kong’s premier international brands

14/07/2024 23:17

A truly remarkable 2023/24 Hong Kong racing season concluded at Sha Tin on Sunday, 14 July, marking the close of one of the most extraordinary chapters in Hong Kong’s racing history.

The Club’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges: “We had the best-ever season finale, we want to position racing as a world-class entertainment and sporting event. We couldn’t have planned a better season finale than today when the on-course atmosphere and response from our 30,000 racing fans, which include a record number of over 6,000 Mainland visitors, was amazing.”

From a pool of only 1,200 horses in training – or about 0.7% of the world’s racehorse population – Hong Kong achieved unprecedented success on the international stage with victories in 13 of the world’s top Group 1 races. For the first time, all 12 of Hong Kong’s top-level races featured in the LONGINES World’s Top 100 Group/Grade 1 Races for 2023, with four in the top 20. Also, for the first time, four of Hong Kong’s elite racing stars – Golden Sixty, Lucky Sweynesse, Romantic Warrior and California Spangle – featured in the top 15 in the 2023 LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR).

The world-class quality of Hong Kong horses was showcased at Hong Kong’s two international flagship events, the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races and FWD Champions Day. Competing against 32 overseas runners from five countries, Hong Kong’s equine stars swept to victory in six out of seven Group 1 features.

As the flagbearer for Hong Kong, Romantic Warrior competed in three major racing arenas this season – Australia, Hong Kong and Japan – and emerged triumphant in all three.

He became the first Hong Kong horse to win the G1 W.S. Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October before returning to Hong Kong to claim the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup and the G1 FWD QEII Cup. He followed this up in Japan, defeating the cream of Japan’s milers with a swift and decisive victory in the G1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse in June.

With five successive Group 1 triumphs, Romantic Warrior posted the most Group 1 wins in a single season by a Hong Kong horse.

Meanwhile, another elite horse, California Spangle, posted a record-breaking win in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai.

Looking to the future, Hong Kong celebrated the victories of four up-and-coming horses – Voyage Bubble in the G1 Stewards’ Cup, Victor The Winner in the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup, Beauty Eternal in the G1 FWD Champions Mile and Invincible Sage in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize.

This season saw champion jockey Zac Purton seal a seventh Hong Kong jockeys’ championship with 130 wins, while Francis Lui was crowned Hong Kong champion trainer for the first time and Angus Chung won the Tony Cruz Award as the leading homegrown jockey.

“Our world-class racing is truly an international brand in Hong Kong. I am deeply satisfied to see the joy and pride our champion horses, jockeys and trainers bring to racing fans not just in Hong Kong but around the world. These achievements are only possible because of the significant investment of our Owners. Collectively, these achievements are a wonderful endorsement of our strategy to develop our racing to become world class. In addition, we have long-term strategies to attract the best racing talent from around the world in combination with developing the best horses and the best home-grown talent. There is no better proof of this than the thrilling contest this season between Francis Lui and Pierre Ng for the trainer’s title. However, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current challenging economic environment have brought significant challenges to the Club. In particular they have impacted the ability of our Owners to source good horses as well as adversely impaired interest in horse ownership. We have responded with a number of measures. In 2022/23 season, we introduced an enhanced PP bonus scheme to encourage owners to secure more quality horses to race in Hong Kong, boosting a higher level of performance. Under this new scheme, a total of HK$88.5 million has been distributed to 59 newly imported PPs in 2023/24 season, including the 2024 BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Massive Sovereign.”

“In the upcoming season, the Club will invest HK$140 million to lower livery fees and extend additional financial support for the export of retired horses. In addition, under the Racecourse Master Plan, we have started to refurbish the stables at Sha Tin. I am confident that these measures will encourage owners to bring in more top-class horses to sustain and grow our horse population,” said Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.

Another important highlight is the Club’s strategic investment in the Greater Bay Area and Conghua Racecourse (CRC), with CRC being increasingly important in supporting Hong Kong’s racing as well as the National Equine Industry Development Plan 2020-2025 in the Greater Bay Area.

With its cutting-edge facilities and a strong pool of racing and equine professionals, including a top-class local workforce, CRC produced 243 wins by 186 horses from 18 stables this season, representing an increase of approximately 41% and 35% respectively on last season. Following the completion of new double-storey stables, CRC’s capacity has increased from 660 to more than 1,000 horses, which will further support the development of the next generation of world-class horses.

As regards the Club’s strategy to bring world class racing to the Mainland through staging  international standard racing on a regular basis at CRC from 2026, the Club has achieved excellent progress. The construction of an iconic grandstand, which topped-out this season, is well underway. With a capacity of 9,500, it will provide an unparalleled customer experience for Mainland and Hong Kong fans, visitors and guests.

“I am pleased to see the enormous progress made by Conghua Racecourse in just six years since its opening. Not only is it providing world-class training to Hong Kong horses, but it is fast developing into an equine hub for the Greater Bay Area in support of the nation’s equine industry development. Preparations for the successful staging of international standard racing from 2026 is our current focus. In parallel, we are stepping up the recruitment and development of racing talent through partnerships with Mainland authorities. We have also acquired land for an equine transfer station, which will be equipped with international standard quarantine facilities to facilitate the import and export of horses in the future,” said Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges.

In Hong Kong, the two racecourses in Sha Tin and Happy Valley continued to be the stages for world-class racing and vibrant live entertainment. A day at the races is becoming increasingly popular with Mainland tourists eager for a unique Hong Kong experience. This season, more than 93,000 Mainland tourists visited Sha Tin Racecourse with an average of 4,000 on major racedays and a record 6,373 enjoying the season finale. Indeed, the total number of Mainland racecourse visitors was significantly up by 32% on the 2018/19 season before the shutdown of cross-border transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our famous Happy Wednesday at Happy Valley Racecourse continued to provide thrilling live music performances, with 11 different themed race-night parties. Coupled with free entry from September to December in support of the HKSAR Government’s “Night Vibes” campaign, this boosted total attendance for the season to more than 500,000, a 37.6% increase on the 2022/23 season.  At the thrilling season finale meeting at Happy Valley Racecourse last Wednesday (10 July), there was an exciting jockey parade with all our jockeys thanking our racing fans for their support during the season.

“With Hong Kong ramping up its capabilities to attract more tourists from around the world, I am glad to see that our world-class racing and racecourse entertainment has become a major tourist attraction for both Mainland and overseas visitors. The Club is striving to be a customer-centric organization and we will continue to invest in our racecourses and betting outlets, providing new and upgraded dining and entertainment venues as well as a new digital racecourse experience for the younger generation.”

In total racing fans enjoyed 88 race meetings this season, including seven twilight fixtures, comprising 831 Hong Kong races and 368 overseas simulcast races.

Total racing wagering turnover for the season was HK$134.7 billion, representing a 4.5% decrease on the 2022/23 season. Here, although the Hong Kong market has been impacted significantly by the economic downturn, the Club’s strategy to expand its customer base globally has partially offset the loss, with Hong Kong races attracting record commingling turnover of HK28.8 billion, a 13.7% increase on the 2022/23 season.

This strong trend reflects the high profile of Hong Kong racing internationally, with 26 countries and more than 70 partners now commingling on Hong Kong racing, including Malaysia for the first time.

Bringing overseas races via simulcasting to showcase the best races around the world to Hong Kong has always been part of our racing wagering offering. Overall turnover on simulcasting (including World Pool commingling) for the season was up by 8.7% to HK$12.8 billion.

Through the World Pool the Club is now transforming Hong Kong into the global hub for commingled wagering on the very best of world racing. This year the number of World Pool races increased from 175 to 258, with 83 races added, and the highlight being the expansion of the World Pool to Australia. World Pool turnover was up by 57.1% on last season.

Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “Under such a challenging economic situation, our overall season racing turnover is satisfactory. While the Club will continue to grow and expand its overseas customer base, the decline in local racing wagering turnover underlines that it must constantly engage and re-engage with Hong Kong racing fans.”