Our racing season ended on a high on Sunday, with over 42,000 racegoers joining us at our racecourses to seek racing excitement, and to give a great send-off to all trainers, jockeys and horses before we all commence the eight-week summer break.
It has been a fantastic and incredible season for the Club, with many significant achievements. From the lofty international rankings for our top horses and races, to the record-breaking season for our new Champion Jockey Joao Moreira and the record stakes earned by Champion Trainer John Moore, the superlatives are overwhelming.
When you consider that the magnificent accomplishment of Zac Purton had him still 50 wins off Joao, and that a total of 95 as achieved by Zac would easily put him in contention any other season, the numbers simply astound. That’s why Zac deserves much credit for a great year as well.
Our home-grown jockeys including Vincent Ho, Keith Yeung and Derek Leung all had strong campaigns. While Zac rides in Japan and Joao will make a visit there for the JRA’s jockey competition in late August, Vincent, Keith and Derek will spend their summers riding in France, Australia, and the UK, respectively. It’s great to know their dedication for continuous improvement of their riding skills, and I wish they all have a fruitful trip with valuable riding experience overseas.
On our seasonal business, we were pleased to share our racing turnover gains for the year, now up to HK$107.9 billion. It marks the second consecutive year we have gone over the HK$100 billion mark, and a year-over-year rise of 5.8 per cent. If one compared it to the past figure of HK$60 billion as in 2005/06, the gain is just shy of 80 per cent in less than 10 years. Indeed we are ranked among the world’s leading racing jurisdictions, and our racing turnover is also among the highest in the world.
I’m even more delighted to see racing tax contributions reached another record high, rising by another four per cent to HK$12.3 billion this season. I’ve read many accounts from overseas media, who, apart from covering our season finale, also praised the strong performance of the Club this season, as well as the great contributions Hong Kong racing provides to our local community. This is a perfect promotion for our world-class sport and racing products.
Having said that, we could never achieve it if without the hard work of the Club’s team, the holistic strategy in revitalising the sport, and last but not least, the most enthusiastic support as given by our Owners, horsemen and racing fans.
Anyway, it’s time to enjoy the break, well deserved by us all. It will also be a good time for us to regroup and refresh, so that we can come back even stronger. I will update my blog periodically through the summer and hope you will enjoy a great time. See you later!
Comment
