At a time when western racing jurisdictions are increasingly angst-ridden about the future, the vibe going into Hong Kong’s International Carnival on Sunday is reassuringly self-assured, underlining how the sport’s long-term prosperity may be bound up in looking east.
That doesn’t mean there’s some panacea there. Racing in Macao came to an end earlier this year. In October Singapore’s track closed, finally succumbing to demand for building land in a small space. Singapore’s last 18-hole public golf course also fell victim.
But when it comes to public engagement with racing, the Far East is looked at enviously by countries that only a generation ago might have allowed themselves a more patronising attitude.
Japanese racing’s rise to global superpower status was underlined yet again a couple of weeks ago when some of Europe’s best, including Aidan O’Brien’s 2023 dual-Derby winner Auguste Rodin, got nowhere near landing a blow in the Japan Cup.
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It was the 19th year in a row that a locally trained horse had kept Japan’s greatest international prize at home.
Afterwards, Auguste Rodin was the first overseas horse to get a retirement ceremony. Up to 15,000 fans waited after the last race to wave off the son of legendary Japanese stallion Deep Impact.
They weren’t betting or looking for tips, just appreciative of a top-class thoroughbred. It was a remarkable display of sporting enthusiasm considering less than 11,000 were at the Curragh to watch Auguste Rodin win last year’s Irish Derby.
O’Brien was amazed at the level of public interest, urging others to witness it for themselves and describing Japan as very special in comparison to other countries, no mean tribute from someone who has conquered almost every other corner of the racing world.
That includes Hong Kong where he runs Luxembourg and Continuous in Sunday’s Vase as well as the fillies Content and Wingspan in the featured €4.8 million Cup. They are two of the four Group One contests up for grabs worth almost €15 million between them.
If Japan has morphed into a sprawling racing and breeding empire, Hong Kong is a distilled model of what a centrally run, self-financing entity can look like when underpinned by recognition that everyone’s interests are best served by chasing popular support.
The primary expression of that is betting. But it’s not exclusively just about picking winners. The status of Hong Kong’s top riders, and visiting overseas superstars such as Ryan Moore, is at a level that those charged with selling the sport to a wider audience here can only dream of.
Underlining it all though is acknowledgement from those within the sport that their self-interest is wrapped up in pursuing the widest possible audience. As a result, the levels of information, transparency and integrity, all with an eye on reassuring and encouraging punters and fans, can seem at another level to observers from this part of the world.
Betting turnover in Hong Kong is still the envy of the racing world. The Hong Kong Jockey Club-backed World Pool generated enough to provoke the Curragh into switching the Irish Derby to a Sunday last year for the first time in more than a decade, hardly a surprising move since pool betting generated almost €500,000 for the track.
In comparison, prizemoney here is reliant on government funding and a media rights set-up largely tied to rapidly declining betting turnover on racing in Britain. On top of that is contagion from how the gambling industry’s reputation has sunk on the back of blatant exploitation of problem gamblers, as well as growing concerns about racing’s record on welfare.
Hong Kong’s integrity environment is also acknowledged as world-leading. Jockeys have had their collars felt due to the importance of perception. Officials also flag as reassurance how post-race positive results are 10 times lower than the world average. Such a statistic elsewhere would only encourage fears that something untoward was going on.
The on-track dividend of such a governance structure will be stamped all over Sunday’s action where the best local horses will, at the very least, be competitive with some of the best from Europe, Japan and Australia.
It is 33 years since Dermot Weld’s Additional Risk became the first European-trained runner to win there as the International Carnival began to take root. Jim Bolger’s Alexander Goldrun remains the sole Irish-trained winner of the Hong Kong Cup in 2004, a time when the carnival was regarded as something of a lucrative end-of-year bonus for visitors.
Since 2010, though, the Cup has been won by local horses or from Japan. One of Hong Kong’s superstar horses Romantic Warrior is odds on to complete an unprecedented hat-trick on Sunday.
He has been consistently rated near the top of the world’s top-ranked thoroughbreds in recent years. Other Hong Kong stars such as Golden Sixty and Beauty Generation have also been genuine world-class talents. For a territory with only 1,200 horses at a time, 0.7 per cent of the world population, it is an impressive depth of talent.
No doubt Hong Kong racing has its problems. Political uncertainties to the north cast a far bigger shadow than just racing. But this weekend will showcase just how exuberant a sport the old game can be when done right.
Something for the Weekend
The mile-and-a-half Hong Kong Vase is usually Europe’s best chance and the veteran Iresine (6.10) can strike for France. An unlucky fourth in Ascot’s Champion Stakes, the versatile gelding will tackle unusually quick going but will finish better than most.
Touch Me Not (1.50) is the outsider of Gordon Elliott’s pair for Saturday’s Grade One Henry VIII Chase at Sandown. But a repeat of his jumping performance when scoring at Punchestown will make him hard to pass.
