In the Year of the Horse, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is honoured to be hosting the 35th Asian Racing Conference, summit of the world racing industry, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 5-8 May 2014. The Asian Racing Conference (ARC), likened to be the APEC of the racing world, is widely known to be the most important and prestigious event of its type across the world. The most important racing officials, administrators and executives from all over the world gather at this conference to share and showcase the latest developments and discuss the biggest issues in the industry over the four days. World-renowned experts in fields such as the future of wagering on racing, broadcasting technology, breeding, drug control, politics and industry vocational training will ensure that the conference is the marketplace for ideas and further foster the innovation and reform for which the ARC is famous, setting the agenda for the racing industry around the world.
To mark the hosting of the 35th ARC, the HKJC has installed three life size horse statues at the Golden Bauhinia Square with Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre as background
Hong Kong has hosted the Asian Racing Conference twice before, in 1978 and in 1991, however this is the first year they are hosting it since Hong Kong’s reunification with the Mainland in 1997. Since the last conference was held in Hong Kong, every aspect of horse racing held in the region and organized by The Hong Kong Jockey Club has been transformed and is widely recognized as being world class. With wagering turnover in Hong Kong being the highest per fixture in the world at over HK$1 billion staked each raceday on average. Five of Hong Kong’s six international races are in the top 50 races in the world (as published by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities), including the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and the Champions Mile.
The 2014 Asian Racing Conference is set to welcome a record number of delegates, with close to 800 attendees from around the world. It has also attracted many foreign speakers. Representatives in the list of presenters from 15 different business sectors include Mr Michael Lynch, one of the world’s pre-eminent arts administrators; Dr Don Watson, screenwriter of the famous film “The Man Who Sued God”; Mr Scott McLeod, Everton FC Digital Media Manager; Mr Joerg Heise, Managing Director of RIEDEL, the world-recognized pioneers in the field of real-time networks for video and audio and many more. Meanwhile Fox Sports, which is synonymous with excellence in television broadcasting of premium sporting events, will also discuss its cutting edge technology used in sports TV.
About the Asian Racing Federation and the Asian Racing Conference
The Asian Racing Conference takes place every 18 months or so, and is widely considered to be the most important and influential event of its type. The Asian Racing Conference is staged by the Asian Racing Federation (ARF), the peak regional body for thoroughbred racing in Asia, Australasia, Arabia and South Africa. The first ARC was held in Tokyo in 1960, attended by 69 delegates from 12 racing organisations representing seven countries (Burma, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand). Since then, the ARF has expanded both in the number of delegates it accommodates as well as the size of the geographical area it covers. It now has 21 Full Members (Australia, Bahrain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, The Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), 1 Associate Member (Mongolia) and 3 Affiliate Members (Indonesia, Kuwait and Turkmenistan) and this year opens its doors to nearly 800 delegates from more than 30 countries, including many delegates from Europe, North America and South America.
The ARF is formally linked with the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. Australia, Hong Kong and Japan have permanent seats representing the ARF on the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities, and the ARF also nominates one of two rotational positions on the IFHA Executive Council.
For more information on the 35th Asian Racing Conference, please visit the 35th Asian Racing Conference website.
(source: HKJC)
