ENG-2017 — Page 378

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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

Horse racing is Hong Kong's most popular spectator sport, attracting an attendance of 2.2 million in 2016-17. It is also increasingly popular around the world, with live and pre-recorded Hong Kong racing widely available overseas and commingled wagering provided via 34. partners in 10 countries and jurisdictions. Fundamental to this success is the high standard of training and horse care, the recruitment of world-class trainers and jockeys, and the import of quality horses by the club's members. As a result, Hong Kong is now home to 12 international Group One races, including the Hong Kong International Races, widely regarded as the Turf World Championships. Nine ranked in the World's Top 100 Group One/Grade One Races for 2017, with five being in the top 50. Hong Kong also had 22 horses in the World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2017. All this was achieved despite Hong Kong having just 0.8 per cent of the world's horse races and 0.7 per cent of its thoroughbred racehorses.

The club is authorised by the government to provide responsible horse racing and football wagering services and to operate the Mark Six lottery. In doing so it helps meet the public demand for betting and assists the government in combating illegal gambling. Indeed, the club holds the highest Level 4 accreditation under the World Lottery Organisation's Responsible Gambling Framework.

The club has been contributing to Hong Kong for over a century, both directly and through the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Today, it benefits 10 areas of social need: arts, culture and heritage; education and training; elderly services; emergency and poverty relief; environmental protection; family services; medicine and health; rehabilitation; sports and recreation; and youth development. Thanks to improved business performance, regular charity donations quadrupled between 2007-08 and 2016-17.

Drawing on its sporting expertise, the club promotes community football and equestrian sports, while through its Riding High Together festival, which 47,000 people attended in 2017, it educates and inspires the wider community.

Looking to the future, the club remains committed to the betterment of society. To safeguard this commitment, not least from the substantial threat of illegal gambling, the club continues to invest in its development. Four new or refurbished venues opened in 2016-17 under its $6.7 billion Racecourse Master Plan, while work continued on a next-generation customer information and wagering system. Above all, the Conghua Training Centre in Guangdong Province, due to open in August 2018, will provide the training and stabling facilities the club needs to develop its world-class racing.

Outward Bound Hong Kong

Outward Bound Hong Kong (OBHK) was established in 1970 to provide personal development programmes for Hong Kong people to learn essential life skills and reach their maximum potential. It is the first and only experiential education organisation in Asia to be accredited by the international Association for Experiential Education. As part of Outward Bound International, OBHK benefits from the network of over 35 centres round the world.

Outward Bound's mission is to help people discover and develop their potential to care for themselves, others and the world around them through challenging experiences in unfamiliar

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