Crowds, turnover both up as Hong Kong racing gets new year off to a ‘terrific’ start
Jockey Club boss Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges says number of spectators from outside city shows sport is on ‘the right track’
Hong Kong racing got the new year off to a galloping start on Thursday, with crowd numbers and turnover both up and Jockey Club boss Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges hailing a sport he said was “on the right track”.
Despite a slow build-up to the day, a festive atmosphere at Sha Tin Racecourse ultimately drew almost 50,000 spectators, including 8,250 from mainland China.
In the feature race, Karis Teetan’s perfect ride guided Storm Rider to victory in the Chinese Club Challenge Cup, a potential herald of things to come for the 35-year-old jockey, who was born in the Year of the Horse in 1990 and will see his sign roll around again next month.
Engelbrecht-Bresges, the club’s CEO, called it “a terrific start to the new year”, pointing to the jump in visitors from across the border and elsewhere as evidence that “the whole aspect of horse racing tourism obviously works”.
“The reaction from people on course is extremely positive that this is an amazing race meeting and they appreciate the sport of horse racing, so I think we are on the right track,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
There was plenty to warm the CEO on a cool day in Hong Kong, with turnover coming in at HK$1.69 billion, up 4.3 per cent on last year. The crowd of 49,156 was up 15 per cent, with 8,250 mainland tourists, more than double the number that attended 12 months ago.