The Mystique of the Hong Kong Jockey Club

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The Mystique of the Hong Kong Jockey Club

By Hong Cheong
The Daily Dash
November 27, 2019

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC, Chinese name: 香港賽馬會) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, founded in 1884 to promote horse racing. It was granted Royal Charter and renamed to "The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club" (英皇御准香港賽馬會) in 1959. The name of the institution was reverted to its original name in 1996 due to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.

It is a non-profit organisation providing horse racing, sporting and betting entertainment in Hong Kong. It holds a government-granted monopoly in providing pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, the Mark Six lottery, and fixed odds betting on overseas football events. The organisation is the largest taxpayer in Hong Kong, as well as the largest private donor of charity funds, contributing an average of over HK$1 billion (approximately US$130 million) annually over the past ten years. The HKJC also provides dining, social and recreation facilities to its approximately 23,000 members.

Founded in 1884 as an amateur body to promote horse racing, it was an exclusive club whose membership was drawn from the upper class. During the 19th and early 20th century, there were few Chinese members. Three of the top colonial clubs at the time, namely the Jockey Club, Victoria Recreation Club (1872) and the Amateur Dramatic Corps (1844) "had not a single Chinese member between them".

The Club evolved into a professional institution from 1971. The Club organised the annual races which took place around Chinese New Year, and was initially financed by commissions on bets which were placed through private clubs. HM Queen Elizabeth II accorded it with Royal Charter in 1959, and became "The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club" (英皇御准香港賽馬會) until 1996.

In July 2005, the decision was made to stage equestrian competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Hong Kong. The Club's racing centre at Sha Tin was used as the foundation for the Olympic and Paralympic venues, with additional competition and training venues being incorporated into existing sports facilities at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, the Jockey Club Beas River Country Club and the adjacent golf course.

The HKJC conducts nearly 700 horse races per year at its two race tracks at Sha Tin and Happy Valley. During the 2001/02 racing season, the HKJC licensed 1,144 horse owners, 24 trainers and 35 jockeys and had 1,435 horses in training.

In 2002–2003, the betting turnover was HK$71 billion. After paying dividends of 58 billion and betting duty of 9.5 billion, its betting commission revenue was HK$3.9 billion. It contributes 11.7% of Hong Kong's tax revenue. Surpluses from its operation are allocated to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Following the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, the popularity of horse racing declined substantially, possibly due to economic conditions in the region.

On 16 March 2007, the HKJC appointed William (Bill) Nader, formerly with the New York Racing Association, as its executive director of racing from April 2007. On 9 September 2007, Sha Tin Racecourse opened after its summer break with record 1-day crowd of about 60,000. Chief Secretary Henry Tang struck the ceremonial gong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club collected US$106 million in bets (highest since 2001). Children of horse owners were admitted amid protest of local anti-gambling groups. Sunny Power, booted by Howard Cheng got the trophy in the 1,200 metre dash.

In January 2008, Eclipse and Sovereign Award winning jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson became the first North American female rider to be granted a license to compete in Hong Kong.

The reform and other changes mentioned above, the HKJC revenue has steadily increased back to previous levels and above. The total racing revenue for the Racing Season 2018/2019 reached HK$126.5 billion.

The HKJC has a legal monopoly over betting on horse racing and football. In 1974, it opened 6 off-course branches where the members of the public could wager on horse race meets at the club's Happy Valley racecourse. There are now in excess of 100 betting branches throughout the territory which accepts bets on racing and on soccer and buy Mark Six lottery tickets.

The HKJC was instrumental in persuading the Hong Kong government to pass the Gambling (Amendment) Bill 2002 to combat unauthorised cross-border gambling and the related promotional activities in Hong Kong, making it a criminal offence for any person in Hong Kong to bet with an unauthorised bookmaker, even when the bets are received outside Hong Kong. The offence applies to all visitors as well as to residents of Hong Kong. It was also instrumental in persuading other members of the Asian Racing Federation to sign the Good Neighbour Policy on 1 September 2003.