Besides the fact that the Hong Kong Jockey Club contributes 1,3% of Hong Kong’s GDP and is the biggest taxpayer, there’s clearly plenty of motivation to keep racing going during the coronavirus outbreak – and it extends way beyond the bottom line, with 30% of the adult population following the sport.
“One of the other important parts is keeping people entertained and employed,” SCMP Racing Editor Tom Biddington said recently, adding that the HKJC employs more than 20 000 people.
“It has 700,000 fans in terms of betting accounts. There’s a lot of things it does. It’s not just about money,”said the experienced media man.
The midweek race meeting is one of the city’s biggest money makers.
The turnover for a recent Happy Wednesday, with no fans in the stands was almost HK$145 million ($1.1 billion HKD), down from $162 million ($1.3 billion HKD) one year ago.
The club says the difference is due to the drop in cash customers who prefer to place their bets at one of its 100 off-track betting centrEs.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced this weekend that special arrangements will be made for the race meeting on 8 April at the Happy Valley Racecourse as follows:
Apart from trainers, jockeys, Club officials and Stewards with governance duties, only horse owners with starters with advance table booking approved by the Club will be admitted to the racecourse.
Anyone who has travelled overseas within 14 days before the race day will not be admitted. They are required to fill in a health declaration form and receive temperature screening before entry. They are also required to wear surgical masks during the race meeting.
To comply with the government’s condition that group gatherings in the Parade Ring should not exceed four persons, only one designated owner representing each horse will be allowed to enter the Parade Ring with the trainer, jockey and assistant trainer of the horse concerned.
Special arrangements will be implemented in the Parade Ring to ensure that there is at least 1.5 metres social distance between groups of people inside the Parade Ring.
There will not be photo-taking for the winning horse and owners at the Winning Arch after each race.
On that night, only Owners Box 2/F and 3/F in the Happy Valley Racecourse will be open. The catering facilities in the racecourse will operate in full compliance with the requirements issued by the Secretary for Food and Health for the catering business. Each dining table will only accommodate not more than four guests and there will be at least a 1.5 metres distance between the tables.
