Although it’s now summer and the close-season here in Hong Kong, as usual I have kept a close eye on racing news concerning the racing industry and racing business both in Hong Kong and overseas. Recently, a piece of news from Europe caught my eye. It reported that on 25 July this summer, three major racecourses in the London peripheries - Epsom Downs, Kempton Park and Sandown Park - started a trial programme in which they are now displaying, side-by-side, metric and imperial weights and distances for all their races.
British racing has long used furlongs and yards instead of metric measures when talking about the distance of races, likewise stones and pounds rather than kilograms for weight measurement. Racing for Change, a body established to promote racing to the British public, suggested this latest idea in the hope that it could perhaps make the sport more accessible and understandable for overseas visitors and younger adults in the UK, who are less familiar with the old imperial measures.
Whether this trial brings the desired impact remains to be seen as of course the old traditions are a large aspect of British racing’s appeal; but it brought a clear message that even a traditional racing nation like England is recognising the importance of addressing the needs of different customers to make racing more appealing to the widest possible audience. This is exactly what the Club has been doing and calling for in the past few years. I’m glad to see that this direction, which I previously mentioned in various global racing conferences, has been recognised by fellow overseas racing colleagues, and that related measures are coming into effect in overseas racing jurisdictions. I believe this will be very important for the future sustainability of global racing’s development.
Here at the Club, we are exceptionally pleased that our customers greatly enjoyed Hong Kong racing last season – a fact reflected in the rises in race attendance and turnover. These satisfactory figures correlated directly to our strategy to enhance customer experience for different customer segments. Riding on these positive results, we will continue adopting this direction so as to better tap into and cater to our clients’ and racing fans’ aspirations and needs in the new season. Tomorrow at Sha Tin Racecourse, we will be hosting a press conference to reveal our way forward, and to introduce some exciting new venues, which will be launched in the latest phase of the Racecourse Master Plan.
These new facilities will service different racing customer segments in the new season, offering enhanced racecourse experiences that cater to the tastes of more people. You will have the chance to find out from our websites later tomorrow just what new facilities and services will be on offer for the coming season, which starts on 8 September.
As is our tradition before the start of each new season, tomorrow at Sha Tin we will host the Pre-season Carnival. This popular and fun event offers our Owners, Members and racing fans the chance to enjoy some horse-related activities and games together with their families and children. I have to again extend my great thanks to you all for the support already given, as all admission tickets were sold out less than a week after the start of the selling period. So for those of you that have tickets in your hands, please come along early to enjoy all our programmes, including the exciting annual Jockeys’ Sprint and the chance for you and your families to watch racehorses in action in barrier trials.
Let me also give you a special reminder that before the Jockeys’ Sprint tomorrow, we will hold a welcome-back ceremony for Matthew Chadwick who was victorious in the Shergar Cup jockeys’ competition in the UK earlier this month - the same period when Hong Kong’s female cyclist Sarah Lee was making history by winning a bronze medal at the London Olympics. So make sure you proceed to the concourse before the Jockeys’ Sprint to show your appreciation to Matthew, who, like Sarah, is another HK elite sportsperson and of course a home-grown product of the Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School.
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