34 Macau racehorses undergo quarantine in Zhuhai
The racehorses were retired from Macau Jockey Club.
Macau.- Nearly 20 days after the closure of the Macau Jockey Club (MJC), some 34 racehorses are undergoing 30-day quarantine in Zhuhai. Another 120 animals are expected to follow.
When the horses complete quarantine, they will be moved to Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia and Shandong and other places in China. According to TDM, the former racehorses will be used for “competitions, shows, performing arts and other purposes”.
The MJC ended its operations on April 1 after more than 40 years. It had faced financial difficulties for years, which had been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the MJC reported a loss of MOP2.1bn (US$261.4m), up from MOP1.9bn (US$240m). In January, the government announced the termination of the concession contract during the 2023-24 racing season. The club set a deadline of March 2025 to remove all the horses from the city.
In March, the MJC rejected horse owners’s demands for compensation over the closure of its operations, stating that it was under financial pressure and couldn’t fulfil the requests. The MJC stated it was going to offer subsidies for the transportation of horses to mainland China or overseas, capped at HK$30,000 (US$3,800) and HK$200,000 (US$25,600) respectively.
