The difference of a year has taken on heightened importance for racing much more than it used to be due the impact of the virus pandemic since early 2020, so the outcome of the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s (HKJC) LONGINES IJC and HKIR meetings last week was eagerly awaited and it did not disappoint.
Both patrons on-course and turnover figures reflected a growing optimism that the racing world can live with the disruptions of global viral infections and combined with racing bubbles and quarantine measures life, if not the normality of pre-2020, carries on.
In 2020 the IJC meeting at Happy Valley was conducted before an attendance of 197, outside of racing participants, with the famous inter-city cauldron largely silent except for the riding noise from the track.
While the crowd of 6,395 on-course for last Wednesday's IJC was not back to halcyon days resplendent with the beer garden in full swing, it marks a significant and positive return of racegoers to the track.
It was not a full house, naturally with the current restrictions limiting numbers, but 18,600 attended the international meeting on Sunday at Sha Tin. It looked and sounded like something closely resembling the major turnouts for the HKIR meeting of the past.
That there was international participation in itself was a major achievement for the HKJC.
The 'Racing Bubble' from April's FWD Champions Day was expanded and tightened to bring in the trainers, grooms, jockeys and connections last week. Private jets were used to ensure quarantine from commercial flying, strict security ensured that the only area of Hong Kong the visitors saw were their hotel rooms and the two race courses before the trip back to the airport for their departure home.
Even their dedicated transport was sanitised after each trip with CCTV in the vehicles to ensure there was no stopping for Hong Kong's famed Christmas shopping. This was travel that was without parallel compared to pre-2020.
This large and complex logistical exercise costs a lot of money with the HKJC working with a HK$20 million budget (approx A$3.5 million) so that the week went ahead as the major international racing event that it is, with a lowering of the week's status not considered as acceptable even in the current global situation.
That vision was backed up by the turnover for both the IJC and HKIR meetings with increases recorded for both.
Wednesday's IJC meeting saw total turnover rise from HK$1,461 billion on 2020 to HK$1,713 billion, while Sunday's HKIR meeting had turnover soaring to a record HK$1,728 billion from the 2020 total of HK$1,478 billion.
The huge transition of local customers to digital wagering after the shutdown of Hong Kong's Off Track Betting Agencies in 2020, co-mingling pools, broadcasts on racing channels around the world, plus live steaming of the full Hong Kong broadcast on international online platforms such as thoroughbrednews.com.au and racingandsports.com, have all combined to deliver the financial return for the massive investment of the international week.
Not only did the show go on under difficult global circumstances to retain its coveted sporting position, it was a triumph of logistical planning and financial turnover.
