HK Jockey Club to invest in horseracing in China

The HK Jockey Club has signed an agreement with the Guangzhou Municipal Government and will invest nearly HK$4bn to develop horseracing in China.

China.- The Hong Kong Jockey Club has announced that it has reached an agreement with the Guangzhou Municipal Government to expand the latter’s Conghua race venue.

According to local media, The HK Jockey Club’s HK$4bn investment plan will include a new grandstand with up to 8,500 seats. It hopes to stage four meetings a year from March 2025.

As for betting, Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said it is possible that punters in Hong Kong could be able to bet on the meetings at Conghua in the future, although he doesn’t expect this to happen in the short-term.

Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “If it ever comes to wagering – that is something which nobody could predict and cannot be the basis of what one does – I think that would be subject to even more intense discussions with Guangzhou and Guangdong.”

The HK Jockey Club’s investment in China does not mean the group will stop investing in Hong Kong. According to Engelbrecht-Bresges, the move into China will be complementary and could help bring more international races to the city.