Growing Demand for Horses in Hong Kong

With overall betting turnover of HK$117.4 billion (up 10.7%), 26 Hong Kong horses in the world rankings and attendance of 2.17 million last season, the Hong Kong Jockey Club continues to shatter its own records. And while their racehorse population has previously been limited to 1200, the Jockey Club’s development of the new training facility in Conghua, near Guangzhou in Mainland China, has paved the way for further expansion. The HK$3 billion investment being constructed on the site of the equestrian centre built for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou is set to open in September 2018 and it will eventually have the potential to house 1,500 horses in the future.

In April the Jockey Club announced a significant increase of 120 ownership permits. The increase sees a further shift towards unraced Private Purchase Griffins (PPGs), which accounted for 55% of permits in 2014 and they now make up 70%. The increase amounts to 110 more PPG tickets for an extra 65 applicants which will relieve the backlog of PPG permits which has been three-times oversubscribed.

New Zealand is a logical place for those new permit holders to look to source their stock.

New Zealand’s reputation as a rich source of winners in Hong Kong has been well established for many years, from top-line Group 1 performers Aerovelocity (NZ), Werther (NZ), Fay Fay (NZ), Ambitious Dragon (NZ) and Vengeance of Rain (NZ) to name just a few – through to the consistent churn of winners throughout the lower grades.

Dual Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon (NZ) (Pins) is a brilliant example of an NZ-sourced PPG as are Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes winning Royal Ascot hero Little Bridge (NZ) (Faltaat) and Derby winner Fay Fay (NZ).

Premiere (NZ) (Dylan Thomas) is the most recent NZ-sourced PPG success story, the DTFU Principal Syndicate-raced four-year-old was named the Champion Griffin of 2017 in a debut season in which he was a three-time winner for trainer John Size.

Australian bloodstock agent David Price is a great advocate for the quality of stock on offer in New Zealand.

He and his agency Price Bloodstock have provided countless quality performers to the Hong Kong racing scene and he recently celebrated his 500th winner in Hong Kong, with Right Call (NZ) (Darci Brahma), a NZ$110,000 2013 NZB Select Sale graduate. 

New Zealand has become a pillar of Price’s business and one of his go-to destinations when looking for young thoroughbred talent. His list of Hong Kong successes is littered with New Zealand-breds and Karaka graduates who were turned into stars by some of Hong Kong’s leading trainers.

“We always rely on New Zealand as a big part of the programme,” Price said recently. “It’s fair to say our honour roll has featured many New Zealand purchases – Sight Winner, Entrapment, Multivictory, Enthused, High Point, Presto, Fabulous One and Love Shock would be the best so far.”

All the horses Price mentions have been big prizemoney earners, but not one of them cost more than NZ$60,000 at Karaka.

“I’m not a big believer in the top end of the market, therefore relying on success out of the Select and Festival sessions,” Price said. “Thankfully there’s usually enough success out of these books to keep our owners happy.

“With a few different sets of eyes on the ground, I am always hopeful that we are able to purchase a decent number of yearlings each year, put them through their paces, with a percentage of them capable of performing in Hong Kong.”

The NZB Ready to Run Sale has become a Hong Kong gold mine in recent years.  Glorious Days (Hussonet) is the headline act, having won seven races and more than HK$33 million in prizemoney, but Ready to Run Sale graduates boasted an overall total of more than 70 wins in Hong Kong last season.

NZB’s National Yearling Sales Series is firmly established, headed in recent times by the champion sprinter Aerovelocity (NZ) (Pins) along with fellow Group 1 winners Ambitious Dragon (NZ) (Pins), Able One (NZ) (Cape Cross), Little Bridge (NZ) (Faltaat), Beauty Flash (NZ) (Golan) and many more.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has launched a website designed to provide regularly updated information and imagery relative to the new Conghua Training Centre (CTC). The website includes the latest aerial footage of the site, frequently asked questions, a link to download the CTC Newsletter and a plethora of facts about the project - http://ctc.hkjc.com/en/index.aspx ///