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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

Hong Kong Jockey Club

Horse racing has been a feature of Hong Kong life for more than 170 years. Today, it is Hong Kong's most popular spectator sport, attracting a total attendance of 2.07 million in 2014-15, including many tourists. It is also widely recognised for the world-class quality of its horses and racing events.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club is one of the world's largest racing organisations and football betting operators. It is Hong Kong's only authorised operator of horse racing and regulated football betting, and also operates the Mark Six lottery. It works closely with the government to meet public demand for gambling and combat illegal betting, and plays a leading role in promoting responsible gambling. In 2011, and again in 2015, the club was awarded the highest Level 4 accreditation under the Responsible Gambling Framework of the World Lottery Organisation, becoming the first organisation in Asia to be so recognised.

The club's contributions to Hong Kong extend far beyond sporting entertainment. It is the territory's largest single taxpayer, contributing $20.05 billion to the public purse in 2014-15, or 6.6 per cent of all taxes collected by the Inland Revenue Department during the year. It is also one of the city's largest employers, with more than 24,000 full- and part-time staff.

The club is Hong Kong's largest non-government philanthropist, donating its surpluses via the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to charitable and community projects across Hong Kong. In 2014-15, it donated a record $3.87 billion to 189 projects, touching the lives of some 75 per cent of the population. Indeed, the trust ranked sixth in the world and number one in Asia in terms of charitable donations in 2015.

The trust operates in various ways, funding and enabling the work of charitable and community agencies, and initiating its own projects in collaboration with government and community partners. Over the next three to five years, it is focusing on three emerging areas of need, namely, youth development; building Hong Kong into an age-friendly city; and promoting sport as means to enhance health and well-being, build character, and create lifelong positive values.

To safeguard these contributions in the face of growing local and regional competition from gaming and entertainment operators, as well as from illegal and unauthorised offshore. bookmakers, the club has adopted numerous initiatives to maintain the long-term sustainability of Hong Kong horse racing. Since 2008, it has invested more than $6 billion in a comprehensive Racecourse Master Plan which aims at revitalising the race-going experience. It has also invested substantially in technology, enhancing connectivity with customers and introducing advanced odds calculation technology. And with the opening of the Conghua Training Centre in Guangdong Province in 2018, Hong Kong horses will have access to an additional world-class training facility.

These investments are parallelled by the growing strength of Hong Kong racing. The territory is home to 11 International Group One races, including the Hong Kong International Races, which are widely regarded as the 'Turf World Championships. Ten of these races ranked in the World's Top 100 Group One/Grade One Races for 2015, with eight being in the top 50. Hong Kong also

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