On track to chase the big money

Dragon dancers wind their way through city streets.

As bidding for the horse known as Lot 13 passes NZ$1 million, applause ripples around the parade ring grandstand at Hong Kong's Sha Tin Racecourse. This is noteworthy only because most of the crowd are members of the press and, where I come from, media don't clap.

Seconds later comes a second wave of approval as bidding tops the Australian million dollar mark, and even this blinkered journalist feels a surge of nationalistic pride. After all, Lot 13 is a New Zealand horse, albeit from an American sire.

To my untrained eye, the muscular brown looks like most of the other nags paraded before this packed house of seriously rich Japanese, European and Hong Kong business and horsey folk. But something about him has convinced a couple of bidders to take the annual Hong Kong International Sale to new heights.

That the horse is a bay gelding, with no rewarding future at stud to look forward to after racing, makes the bidding war even more surprising.

The two-year-old, which sold for a mere $360,000 the year before at the Karaka Yearling Sales, eventually fetches $1.1 million - by a couple of lengths the highest price ever paid at Hong Kong.

The successful bidder is a media-shy Hong Kong kitchenware magnate. He has never bought a horse before.

But that's Hong Kong, a city where wealth is chased with a stayer's optimism and where racing is less a pastime than a way of life. Roughly 10 per cent of Hong Kong's population of 6.8 million holds a telephone betting account. As an obsession, racing comes second only to televised British soccer.

On a typical raceday more than a million locals will bet an average HK$215 million - about NZ$35 a head. There are midweek night meetings throughout the season and day meetings most weekends.

The early-December auction is the curtain-raiser for the biggest meet of the year, the Hong Kong International Races, featuring four group one races in one afternoon. The highlight, the Hong Kong Cup, is worth HK$18 million (NZ$3.5 million). Owners, trainers, horses and punters come from Ireland, Europe, Dubai, the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand for the big weekend.

Though Hong Kong' s economy is still recovering from the effects of Sars and recession, the 2004 carnival still draws a healthy crowd of 53,000 and over NZ$160 million is wagered.

Hong Kong may be a shopaholics' nirvana, but it knows that events such as this keep the credit cards swiping. And visiting in December brings a bonus - no other city goes to such lengths to instil the Christmas spirit in consumers. By night, shops and office towers become spectacular billboards of red, green and white, ablaze with Santas, reindeers and Christmas trees.

But the racing is the talk of the town - malls are studded with horse sculptures designed by local students, the South China Morning Post carries daily previews and local TV channels run exhaustive analyses of the prospects in each race.

Until 1970 racing was amateur and Hong Kong was something of a racing backwater - and hugely corrupt. Now it's a tightly run ship.

Visitors can experience the buzz of a race meeting virtually year round - the season stops only for high summer in July and August. There are two courses, the legendary Happy Valley in the centre of Hong Kong Island and state-of-the-art Sha Tin, with two all-weather tracks on reclaimed land in the new territories.

At Sha Tin, even the parade ring has its own grandstand. In plush lounges in the stands, punters follow the action on hundreds of TV screens while outside the action is enlarged on the world's largest diamond vision screen, which stretches 70m along the home straight.

Despite the surroundings, admission to the public stands is cheap and you can buy your way to a higher level of seating, food and drink.

And although Government posters urging moderation are sprinkled around, a flutter is made easy for beginners. Form books come with explanatory notes and betting guides while friendly tellers will do all but tell you which horse is going to win.

Of course, patriotism tends to rule even hardened punters, which is why I found myself on race day clutching the form guide from the South China Morning Post, one of several on offer, wondering which of the four New Zealand-breds in a field of 14 would clean-out its Irish and Australian rivals in race one. No 9, Hapi Hapi, duly comes in second. Unfortunately I had him in a trifecta.

By race four after a couple of minor placings this punter's glass was looking empty. But a quick cash conversion (and some champagne) picked me up. The favourable currency rate (NZ$1 buys you roughly HK$6), means you can convince yourself you're winnings are big ... and when you lose, it's not that bad.

All I needed was a result. And it came in race seven, the HK$14 million Hong Kong Mile, when I pick the winner, Firebreak, at long odds. Pity I'd only backed him for a place.

Still, at the end of the day, a British visitor who played in a different betting league to me summed it up: "Hong Kong was the winner."

While an economic downturn followed by Sars have hit the industry, total turnover last season was around US$70 billion ($96 billion) - not bad for a territory of 6.8 million. The Hong Kong Jockey Club wields enormous power, controlling horse racing and the only other legal forms of gambling - soccer betting and Mark Six, the equivalent of our Lotto.

With such huge financial resources, Hong Kong has sprinted to the forefront of international racing. Top international jockeys Kieren Fallon, Frankie Detori, Shane Dye and Damien Oliver are regulars, while leading trainers - the likes of Saeed bin Suroor of the Godolphin stable, England's David Oughton and Australian David Hayes - have licenses here.

But none of them will get their hands on Lot 13 - the New Zealander is entrusted by its new owner to one of Hong Kong's newest arrivals, Paul O'Sullivan, the first New Zealand trainer to be awarded a Hong Kong contract. Since taking up his contract last June, O'Sullivan has quickly made his mark.

So if you've ever wondered why New Zealand-breds no longer take home the Melbourne Cup so regularly, try looking in Hong Kong.

* Geoff Cumming visited Hong Kong courtesy of Cathay Pacific.

Getting there

Cathay Pacific has return economy class air fares from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to Hong Kong for $1399 (plus taxes and fuel surcharges) but they must be bought by March 15.

Racing

Happy Valley, on Hong Kong Island, is the place for midweek night meetings throughout the season from September to June.

Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories can be reached on the Kowloon-Canton Railway, stopping at Racecourse Station. Admission to the public stand costs HK$10; tourists in Hong Kong for less than 21 days can buy a member's guest badge to the member's stand at off-course betting agencies.

Two operators, Splendid Tours and Travel Ltd and Gray Line Tours, offer Come Horseracing tours including round trip travel, admission to the visitors box, buffet meal and drinks, betting orientation and a HK$30 betting voucher for around NZ$90.

Further information

Discover Hong Kong website