Last Friday, the Legislative Council's Home Affairs Panel discussed the Government's approval of five additional local racedays and 15 simulcast days. I was pleased to learn that many of the panel members were supportive of this decision, recognising the increasing challenges the Club is facing in its racing operations and understanding that the Government and the community at large are the ultimate beneficiaries.
I've also been delighted to see so many different parties, from racing fans to the media and commentators, actively voicing their needs and views regarding the Club's proposal and Government’s decision. I would like to thank all of them for their support, as it demonstrates clearly that a great many people have genuine concern about the future development of horse racing, the most popular sport in Hong Kong, and don't just view it in terms of gambling.
Now that Government has given us the green light for the extra racedays and overseas simulcast days, which will be focused on those meetings in which Hong Kong horses are participating and other world class international racing events, we are now busy arranging the new season's racing schedule.
This task is not as easy as you might think. We have to complete our racing season before 15 July next year, and also bear in mind that the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be held between June and July next year. As many of our racing fans are also football lovers, we should take account of their needs - so wherever possible, we will be careful to avoid clashing with this major football tournament.
Having said that, we are also open to other ideas and suggestions from our racing fans, so if you have particular views on this subject, do please share them with us through this link. You can also tell us what kind of overseas races you would be most interested to follow on the 15 extra simulcast days. Once we have finalised everything, I promise you we will announce further details as soon as possible.
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