Horse racing gallops away with Hong Kongers' hearts
HONG KONG (JP): Along with its nightlife, the stock market and gourmet feasts, horse racing is an integral part of Hong Kong's social tapestry.
"It is part of the life of the hard-working people here: betting on horses at the racetracks," said 20-year-old college student Tee Tee.
Horse racing is the territory's favorite sport and, aside from the local lottery, the only legal form of gambling.
According to data from the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA), the current betting record of a nine-race meet stands at US$236.67 million in just one day!
Although the exact date is unknown, horse racing in Hong Kong was introduced by early British settlers.
The earliest recorded announcement of races was in the December 1846 edition of Hong Kong's first newspaper China Mail, for two race meetings to be held that month at Happy Valley.
Although Britain ceded the territory to China in July, the popularity of horse racing is going strong.
An average of 45,000 spectators, mostly punters, visit each event at Hong Kong's two racecourses: Happy Valley on Hong Island and Sha Tin in the New Territories.
This excludes one million punters placing bets outside, such as through betting agents and by phone.
Tourists also enjoy the races as there are no hoodlums or touts in the area, understanding of the rules is universal and, most of all, it is all aboveboard.
There are giant video display screens at the track and paddock, and large television monitors around the betting terminals. Bets are fully computerized.
"I didn't see any likelihood of cheating here, even though I lost a few Hong Kong dollars during the races at Sha Tin," said visiting Ani J. Anwar, a senior editor of Jakarta-based Popular magazine.
Touted as one of the world's most advanced horse racetracks, Sha Tin -- meaning sandy field in Cantonese -- was Hong Kong's second racecourse when it opened in 1978.
In 1988, it held the first Hong Kong International Race Meeting. It is about 11 kilometers north of Kowloon's famous Tsim Sha Tsui business area,
But the grand old dame of Hong Kong's racetracks is Happy Valley, which held its first races in 1846 on land reclaimed from a malaria-ridden swamp.
Night racing was introduced in 1973.
At each race meeting, a panel of stewards strictly oversees the proceedings.
An integrated video camera patrol system also provides instant replay of races from eight different positions.
Meetings are usually held on Wednesday evenings, and on weekend afternoons at either Sha Tin or Happy Valley throughout the September-June racing season.
"Like human beings, the horses also need time for a break," explained a tour guide.
During the 1997-1998 season, 75 meetings are planned. A day before this year's Hong Kong International Races on Dec. 12, about 30 horses will be on sale.
Each meet has seven to nine races -- the program takes five- and-a-half hours for the night race, and seven hours in the day.
Entrance is HK$10 per person.
HKTA organizes a special tour package, the Come Horse Racing Tour, exclusively for overseas tourists, who must be a minimum of 18 years old and have resided in the territory fewer than 21 days.
The tour, costing HK$530 per person, includes a buffet meal, transportation and guide services.
Tour guides also provide visitors with tips-to-win sheets, which give details about the latest records of horses, jockeys and their trainers.
"But it's just a tip, so don't blame me if you guys lose," quipped tour leader Cliff Yap to a group of visiting Indonesian journalists.
Yap said nine out of the 26 trainers are from Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom.
Racing and betting is controlled and operated by The Hong Kong Jockey Club, a company limited by guarantee with no shareholders.
The club employs about 4,800 full-time and 14,000 part-time staff at the two venues.
Profits remaining after payment of prize money, operating costs, taxes and investments to improve facilities "are given back to the Hong Kong community, through the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust," said the club's chairman Wong Chung Hin.
Allocations to charitable and community projects in the previous fiscal year of 1996/97 amounted to HK$1 billion, and were donated to hospitals, education, cultural and recreational facilities and services for the young, old and disabled, Wong said.
"Some HK$9.93 billion has been allocated in the last 10 years," he added. (bsr)