A truly remarkable 2023/24 Hong Kong racing season concluded at Sha Tin on Sunday, 14 July, with the 11-race card seeing the highest turnover of any race meeting in Hong Kong this season with a total of HK$1.867 billion (£184.1 million) wagered.
Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, said:
We had the best-ever season finale, we want to position racing as a world-class entertainment and sporting event. We couldn’t have planned a better season finale than today when the on-course atmosphere and response from our 30,000 racing fans was amazing.
Across the 2023/24 season, racing fans enjoyed 88 race meetings, including seven twilight fixtures, comprising 831 Hong Kong races and 368 overseas simulcast races.
Total racing wagering turnover for the season was HK$134.7 billion (approx. £13.3 billion), representing a 4.5% decrease on the 2022/23 season. However, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s (HKJC) strategy to expand its customer base globally partially offset the loss, with Hong Kong races attracting record commingling turnover of HK28.8 billion (approx. £2.8 billion), a 13.7% increase on the 2022/23 season.
This strong trend reflects the high profile of Hong Kong racing internationally, with 26 countries and more than 70 partners now commingling on Hong Kong racing, including Malaysia for the first time. Overall turnover on simulcasting (including World Pool commingling) for the season was up by 8.7% to HK$12.8 billion (approx. £1.3 billion).
Through World Pool, HKJC is now transforming Hong Kong into the global hub for commingled wagering on the very best of world racing. This year the number of World Pool races increased from 175 to 258, with 83 races added, and the highlight being the expansion of the World Pool to Australia. World Pool turnover was up by 57.1% on last season.
Engelbrecht-Bresges said:
Under such a challenging economic situation, our overall season racing turnover is satisfactory. While the Club will continue to grow and expand its overseas customer base, the decline in local racing wagering turnover underlines that it must constantly engage and re-engage with Hong Kong racing fans.
Purton, Lui and Chung crowned champions
This season saw champion jockey Zac Purton seal a seventh Hong Kong jockeys’ championship with 130 wins.
Francis Lui was crowned Hong Kong champion trainer for the first time after a sustained battle with former apprentice Pierre Ng, ending the season one clear of his rival on 70 wins.
Angus Chung took home the Tony Cruz Award for the leading homegrown jockey.
Hong Kong stars shine on the global stage
From a pool of only 1,200 horses in training – or about 0.7% of the world’s racehorse population – Hong Kong achieved unprecedented success on the international stage with victories in 13 of the world’s top Group 1 races.
For the first time, all 12 of Hong Kong’s top-level races featured in the LONGINES World’s Top 100 Group/Grade 1 Races for 2023, with four in the top 20. Also, for the first time, four of Hong Kong’s elite racing stars – Golden Sixty, Lucky Sweynesse, Romantic Warrior and California Spangle – featured in the top 15 in the 2023 LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR).
The world-class quality of Hong Kong horses was showcased at Hong Kong’s two international flagship events, the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races and FWD Champions Day. Competing against 32 overseas runners from five countries, Hong Kong’s equine stars swept to victory in six out of seven Group 1 features.
As the flagbearer for Hong Kong, Romantic Warrior competed in three major racing arenas this season – Australia, Hong Kong and Japan – and emerged triumphant in all three.
He became the first Hong Kong horse to win the G1 W.S. Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October before returning to Hong Kong to claim the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup and the G1 FWD QEII Cup. He followed this up in Japan, defeating the cream of Japan’s milers with victory in the G1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse in June.
With five successive Group 1 triumphs, Romantic Warrior posted the most Group 1 wins in a single season by a Hong Kong horse.
Meanwhile, California Spangle, posted a record-breaking win in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai.
Engelbrecht-Bresges said:
Our world-class racing is truly an international brand in Hong Kong. I am deeply satisfied to see the joy and pride our champion horses, jockeys and trainers bring to racing fans not just in Hong Kong but around the world. These achievements are only possible because of the significant investment of our Owners. Collectively, these achievements are a wonderful endorsement of our strategy to develop our racing to become world class. In addition, we have long-term strategies to attract the best racing talent from around the world in combination with developing the best horses and the best home-grown talent. There is no better proof of this than the thrilling contest this season between Francis Lui and Pierre Ng for the trainer’s title.
Plans for racing on the Mainland at Conghua
Another important highlight is HKJC’s strategic investment in the Greater Bay Area and Conghua Racecourse (CRC), with CRC being increasingly important in supporting Hong Kong’s racing as well as the National Equine Industry Development Plan 2020-2025 in the Greater Bay Area.
With its cutting-edge facilities and a strong pool of racing and equine professionals, including a top-class local workforce, CRC produced 243 wins by 186 horses from 18 stables this season, representing an increase of approximately 41% and 35% respectively on last season. Following the completion of new double-storey stables, CRC’s capacity has increased from 660 to more than 1,000 horses, which will further support the development of the next generation of world-class horses.
As regards HKJC’s strategy to bring world class racing to the Mainland through staging international standard racing on a regular basis at CRC from 2026, excellent progress has been made. The construction of an iconic grandstand, which topped-out this season, is well underway. With a capacity of 9,500, it will provide an unparalleled customer experience for Mainland and Hong Kong fans, visitors and guests.
Engelbrecht-Bresges said:
I am pleased to see the enormous progress made by Conghua Racecourse in just six years since its opening. Not only is it providing world-class training to Hong Kong horses, but it is fast developing into an equine hub for the Greater Bay Area in support of the nation’s equine industry development. Preparations for the successful staging of international standard racing from 2026 is our current focus. In parallel, we are stepping up the recruitment and development of racing talent through partnerships with Mainland authorities. We have also acquired land for an equine transfer station, which will be equipped with international standard quarantine facilities to facilitate the import and export of horses in the future.
Hong Kong racing will return for the 2024/25 season in September.
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