The 2024/25 New Horse Racing Season kicked off at Sha Tin Racecourse on the 8th, and despite the sunny and rainy day, it still did not dampen the interest of a large number of horse fans, with more than 47,000 people attending, a record number of Mainland visitors on the opening day after the pandemic, with the number of Mainland visitors breaking the all-time record of over 7,100. The turnover was close to HK$1.33 billion, an increase of 8.6% from the opening day of last year.
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The season kicked off with a booming turnover, with attendance hitting a post-pandemic high and turnover rising by 8.6%. Photo by reporter Cai Qiwen
Li Jiachao said that he continued to promote "tourism everywhere"
The opening ceremony of the new season was held at the Horse Debut Circle at Sha Tin Racecourse, where the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, and Club Chairman Lee Tsz-hou, officiated at the lion dance ceremony. A group of jockeys were also present at the opening ceremony to wish the fans all the best for the new season. Lee Jiachao waved the gavel and sounded the gong to mark the start of the new Malaysian season. All the jockeys lined up in the same line, wishing the fans good luck and "winning more" in the new season.
John Lee (left) and Club Chairman Lee Tsz-hou (right) officiate at the eye-lighting ceremony. Photo courtesy of the Information Services Department
Mr Lee later posted on social media that the Horse Season Opening Day was one of the highlights of Hong Kong's event, and the atmosphere was enthusiastic, attracting many Hong Kong residents and visitors. Mr Lee also mentioned that there will be a number of major events to be held in Hong Kong in the coming months, including sports, arts, economics and conferences. The Government will continue to promote "Travel Everywhere" to attract visitors from all over the world to spend in Hong Kong and inject new vitality into the local economy. Mr Lee said he looked forward to enhancing Hong Kong's international status and image through these activities, and allowing more people to feel the charm and enthusiasm of Hong Kong.
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12 Group 1 international races have been staged this season
According to the Club, there will be 88 local race days in the new season, including 12 Group 1 races. The highlight of the local race on the opening day of the 8th was the third class 1, 1200m Hong Kong Chief Executive Cup, with a total of 10 horses in the competition, which was comfortably won by David Heath's trained and Zan Ton's horse "Ka Ying Gaosheng", who was the winner of the last year's "Best New Horse" and "Most Improved Horse". After the race, Lee presented trophies and silver discs to the winning owners, trainers and jockeys.
John Lee (back row, third left) and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Chairman Lee Tsz-hou (back row, third right) officiate at the gong ceremony to mark the start of the new racing season. Photo courtesy of the Information Services Department
A total of 10 races were staged on the 8th, starting at 12:50 p.m., with seven-time Hong Kong champion Jockey Panton's "Listing Charm" beating Tien Tai On's "Optimism" to win the first race of the season. As it rained heavily from time to time at Sha Tin Racecourse, a large number of fans entered the betting hall to take shelter from the rain, while some fans chose to open their umbrellas to watch the race in an open space in the public gallery.
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Horse fans seek good luck and enter the gong to play
In addition, there is a gong array symbolizing luck in the racecourse on the 8th, and many fans bang the gong when they enter the racecourse, hoping for good luck in the new season.
Attendees will also receive a well-designed new marathon calendar. The Hong Kong Commercial Daily reporter saw at the scene that in addition to a large number of local horse fans entering the field to watch the horse racing and betting, there was no shortage of tourists from all over the world.
Visitors experience Hong Kong's horse racing culture
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At the start of the new season, many fans entered the gong two hours early to ring the gong, hoping that luck would "roll in", and many tourists entered to experience the atmosphere.
A large number of tourists entered to experience the atmosphere of the horse race on the opening day and "check in" in Sha Tin Racecourse. Photo by reporter Cai Qiwen
Mainland tourists won more than 10,000 yuan based on their feelings
Mr. Wu, a horse fan who entered the stadium with his girlfriend, told the Hong Kong Commercial Daily reporter that he planned to bet 500 yuan to test his vision while the horse season was on the 8th, and he personally liked the Australian jockey Panton, thinking that his riding skills and skills were first-class, and he mainly bet on the horses he ridden, hoping to gain after the race. Mr. Zhen, another horse fan who often attends, said that even though the weather has been average recently, he still decided to come to the venue with several friends on the 8th, expecting to "buy hundreds of mosquitoes and 200 mosquitoes". He believes that the first half is too early to know the strength and condition of the jockey, so he mainly buys the second half to the end of the race.
A horse fan who came to Hong Kong from Shunde, Foshan, pointed out that he had gambled on horses for about 30 years, and would bet on his feelings, and also bought "unpopular horses", and also said that he had a total of 3 games with a total of more than 10,000 yuan on the opening day, and would celebrate later, stay in a hotel in Hong Kong that night, and return to the mainland the next day. Mr. Zhang, another tourist from Shandong, said that this was the first time to come here to experience the horse racing culture in Hong Kong and experience the passion of horse racing.
Miss Wang, a tourist from Malaysia, said that her perception is that Hong Kong people like to gamble on horses, and they will watch horse classics, bet on horses, and watch horse running, so let's take a look.
On the opening day, the horse fans were in a good mood
Some horse fans said that he just avoided the wind on the opening day, which made him "in a beautiful mood", and he read the "Horse Cutting Sutra" the night before, did his homework, and was confident that he would succeed. The strategy is to pick an underdog and hope for an "upset". In addition, some first-time entrants said that they had bet a total of 200 yuan, won halfway but lost in the end, and thought that they would be happy even if they lost money for the first time. Some elderly citizens said that the 8th was the first time to enter the event to watch the event, and they felt very novel, and they would "buy more than a dozen mosquitoes" later, hoping that they and their friends would be happy.
Paul Chan: A number of events create greater economic value
The 9th Belt and Road Summit will be held in Hong Kong from Wednesday to Thursday, which is expected to attract nearly 6,000 participants from more than 70 countries and regions, including more than 80 political and business leaders from countries and regions under the Belt and Road Initiative. Events and mega-events in the coming months are expected to generate more consumption and create greater economic value.
Gugang's preferred platform status for the "Belt and Road".
Chen Maobo announced in his blog on the 8th that the upcoming 9th "Belt and Road" Summit Forum will arrange more than 800 one-on-one investment project matchmaking meetings, covering more than 280 projects. With the theme of "Building a New Silk Road of Connectivity, Innovation and Green", the summit closely follows the country's eight actions for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. He believes that it will help consolidate Hong Kong's position as an important node and preferred platform for promoting co-operation in Belt and Road projects.
In terms of innovation and technology and investment, Mr Chan revealed that Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited will host the first "Hong Kong Start-up Investment and Development Summit", bringing together representatives of cutting-edge technology enterprises and senior management of venture capital funds.
Mr Chan emphasised that the events and events to be held in Hong Kong in the coming months will be exciting and diverse, covering sports, arts and culture, fine dining and other activities, which will be accompanied by a series of international business conferences, allowing business travellers to have a wider range of itineraries and programmes, stay in Hong Kong for a few more days and bring their families to enjoy together. He also said that the mega events and large-scale events to be held in Hong Kong this year can bring more consumption and create greater economic value for Hong Kong. In the future, the Hong Kong Government will further strengthen the publicity and promotion of the event, so as to better co-ordinate the synergy between the mega events, so that the flow of people and consumption brought by the event can benefit the whole of Hong Kong more widely.
A number of financial events have been staged one after another
In addition, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Hui Ching-yu, said on the radio program on the 8th that this month's "Belt and Road" Tax Administration Cooperation Forum will be attended by tax officials from many countries and regions, and a Fintech Week and Investment Summit will be held in November; The fact that the Asian Financial Forum will be held in January next year and that there is no difficulty in extending invitations shows that Hong Kong remains attractive.
In addition, Mr Chan spoke about his visit to Australia last week, where the delegation met with leaders from the financial, business and innovation and technology sectors in Melbourne and Sydney. Representatives from a number of technology enterprises in the fields of life and health, medical technology, fintech and green energy said that they were deeply interested in developing in Hong Kong and asked very specific questions, hoping to deepen their understanding of Hong Kong and explore more potential co-operation opportunities. Some people engaged in Fintech have pointed out that a delegation will be formed to participate in the Hong Kong Fintech Week to be held at the end of October.
Mr Chan also said that the Australian business community is keen to learn more about the development opportunities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the development of the entire Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will be further integrated in depth, whether it is the strong alliance of the innovation and technology industry or the interconnection of the financial sector, which will provide new opportunities for Australian innovation and technology and financial enterprises.
Source: Hong Kong Commercial Daily
Reporter: Ye Jiaheng Wan Jiacheng
Editor: Lu Xin
Cover: He Jie
Reviewer: Jin Xia
Executive Producer: Yushan