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Fans watch racing at Conghua in March 2019. Photo: Noel Prentice

Hong Kong Jockey Club to invest HK$4 billion in China after signing landmark agreement

  • Chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges confirms the club is aiming to hold four race meetings a season from 2025 while building a new grandstand at Conghua racecourse
  • The partnership with the Guangzhou Municipal Government helps the long-term development of the sport in the mainland

The Hong Kong Jockey Club is set to invest around HK$4 billion to develop horse racing in the mainland after signing a landmark agreement with the Guangzhou Municipal Government as part of its long-term strategy to grow the sport, the Post can reveal.

The investment will include building a new grandstand at Conghua racecourse in Guangzhou that can accommodate up to 8,500 fans with racing to be held, initially, four times a season starting in March-April 2025. But betting is unlikely to be allowed as gambling remains illegal on the mainland.

The stable facilities at Conghua – about 200km north of Hong Kong – will also be upgraded while an international equine quarantine facility will be developed, likely the first stage in setting up a horse breeding industry. There will also be a focus on professional development so equine sports can grow in the Greater Bay Area.

The agreement signals the Jockey Club’s confidence to continue investing across the border, having already spent HK$3.7 billion building the training centre in Conghua which opened in 2018.

Jockey Club can play key role in China’s bold plan to promote horse racing

It further enlarges the club’s footprint in the mainland and comes after Beijing released a five-year blueprint titled the “National Equine Industry Development Plan (2020-2025)” in October, which seeks to promote horse racing in China.

“This is a part of the Greater Bay Area development – we have the policy endorsement and we have the surety of government-to-government dialogue if this strategic development would run into issues. That gives us confidence to make such a significant investment and plan our future strategy,” Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges told the Post.

“The grandstand, the additional stables will be in the vicinity of HK$4 billion in the first stage. Conghua is not like Sha Tin, so what we want to build is a grandstand with a capacity to accommodate around 8,000 – 8,500 customers.

In the presence of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam (back row middle), Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung (back row, second left), Financial Secretary Paul Chan (back row, second right) and Club Chairman Philip Chen (back row, first right), HKJC chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (front row, first right) signs the Framework Cooperation Agreement and a Supplementary Memorandum of Understanding in Hong Kong to jointly take forward with mainland authorities the promotion and development of the equine industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Photo: Handout

“It is likely that we will start first with four [race meetings a season] and then we can build it up to eight and potentially beyond but it will be a gradual development and it has to fit into how we expand the horse population and how other developments in China go.

“It’s a long-term strategic positioning and I am extremely excited and our board is extremely excited about it.”

Gambling remains a taboo subject in the mainland and, given its natural association with horse racing and how popular it is in Hong Kong – an average of HK$1.6 billion is bet on a Sunday meeting – it raises questions about how it will be managed.

Engelbrecht-Bresges said it is possible punters in Hong Kong could be able to bet on the meetings from Conghua down the track, but confirmed it is unlikely to happen initially.

Hong Kong Jockey Club postpones mainland China race meeting amid political unrest

“The question of betting is a different ball game. In the future it could be a simulcast model like Dubai, that might be an option, but it is not something we can speculate on,” he said.

“First, we have to demonstrate that it’s a world-class sport, it is run with the highest integrity and it creates value for the region. What happens in five, 10 or 20 years, no one can foresee.

“For us, the clear focus is on the implementation of a leisure entertainment, high-class sport, which complements what we do in Hong Kong. That will help us upgrade the quality of the sport and that is the main business justification.

“If it ever comes to wagering – that is something which nobody could predict and cannot be the basis of what one does – I think that would be subject to even more intense discussions with Guangzhou and Guangdong.”

There has been one exhibition meeting held at Conghua – five races in March 2019 – but a combination of the social unrest in Hong Kong and Covid-19 has delayed the second meeting at the venue.

Nordic Warrior wins the first race at Conghua in March 2019. Photo: Kenneth Chan

On that occasion, there were about 3,000 fans on course, no betting and races were beamed back into Hong Kong on a 15-minute delay.

The chief executive is also adamant that the significant investment in the mainland is not coming at the expense of projects in Hong Kong.

“This doesn’t mean that we abandon Hong Kong, it is complementary, it is not a competition. We will continue to invest massively in Hong Kong,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

“We are optimistic it will give longer-term sustainability and prosperity to Hong Kong racing.”

Ma Fung-kwok, Hong Kong lawmaker for the sports, performing arts, culture and publication sector, predicted the deal could bring benefits if it could create synergy for Jockey Club and the Guangzhou side.

“The mainland side would be able to get more familiar with horse racing … For Hong Kong, it can help attract more international races to come to the city,” he said.

Changing China’s gambling laws ‘even above what the Jockey Club can do’ but racing in Conghua is here to stay

Peng Peng, vice-president of the Guangdong System Reform Research Society, a Guangzhou-based think tank, told the Post the ban on betting in the mainland is likely to remain in place, even if races are being held.

“The restrictions on horse racing industry or the gambling industry is unlikely to be relaxed in the short term. Hainan province already has the related policy, but also did not develop the gaming industry,” he said.

“In the future, the extension and supporting industries of gambling can get policies approved and development, the real gaming industry is not likely to open up for the time being and amending the law is also more unlikely.

“Because now, the perception towards gaming among all levels of the government has not yet changed”.

Additional reporting by Guo Rui and Kanis Leung.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Jockey Club to invest HK$4b into mainland racing
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