Despite a dramatic drop in the expected crowd from last year’s attendance of 96388, Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong International Races will go ahead as planned.
“We have toned down our marketing and advertising, so the attendance will be down considerably,” said William Nader, director of racing business and operations at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
“It won’t be 90,000 people, it might be half that, but it’s still going to look good. The attendance could be in the 40,000s.
“It is because of transportation mainly. There will be a protest in Victoria Park on Sunday. It will be big. People will be concerned about how they will get back home.”
The Racing Post reports that Hong Kong racing is also available to watch on free-to-air television, online and at Happy Valley.
Nader added: “Of course, their preference would be to be here, but they need to have a plan B and I think a lot of people will implement their plan Bs.”
There must have been concerns for Sha Tin’s big day at some stage, but Nader said he never feared the international racecard would fall victim to the same fate as major tennis and golf tournaments.
“I never thought it wouldn’t happen,” he said. “But there were other people within the organisation who were probably more sensible than me and thought ‘we really have got to evaluate this.’
“Personally, I was involved in the 2001 Breeders Cup in New York right after 9/11. It was a different situation, but not completely dissimilar either.
“Six weeks after 9/11 we hosted the Breeders’ Cup at Belmont Park. I remember that clearly and it was very uplifting for everyone. It was a day when people within the horse racing community could smile again. They could go on with their lives and feel good.
“This is different. It is not going to have the same impact, but it is important to show that we are not going to lay down and say, ‘event cancelled.’ We are going to go on with it and it is going to happen without any interruption and disruption, the way we have always done it.”
Horse racing has somehow survived almost unscathed during these most turbulent of times, losing just a brace of Happy Valley fixtures last month. “If you are a protester in Hong Kong, horse racing is difficult to target because I think they know how connected people are to horse racing here and how the Jockey Club have contributed so much to the growth of Hong Kong through charity.
“We have also been very fair. We have not taken sides. We are not political in any way. We are here to provide racing and sporting entertainment.”
Race Times:
Race 1 :06:00
Race 2 :06:30
Race 3 :07:05
Race 4 :07:40
Race 5 :08:20
Race 6 :08:55
Race 7 :09:30
Race 8 :10:10
Race 9 :10:45
Race 10 :11:20
ALL RACES: Commingled Win, Place, Swinger (7 or more runners), Quinella (FIRST, SECOND any order);
SA pools: Trifecta, Quartet AND Bipot (RACES 5-10), Jackpot (RACES 7-10), Pick 3 (RACES 8-10), Daily Double (RACES 9-10).
