Following the news that age restrictions might be loosened to allow under 18s to attend the races in Hong Kong, a slew of improvements to Sha Tin Racecourse geared toward a younger demographic have been announced by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The news was first reported by the South China Morning Post.
In an interview with the SCMP, the HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said his organisation was “grateful that the government endorsed this and made this part of its policy address”. “[You only have to] look at the whole excitement which has been created by the news that Hong Kong racing will be part of an official tourism offer,” he added.
“We wanted to create a completely new arrival and new experience for tourists, because what we have currently is not what we think will be a holistic tourist experience.”
“We have a lot of new people come to Hong Kong [that] were not familiar with racing,” he added. “So what kind of experience do you have to create for them?”
Some of the planned improvements are new restaurants targeted toward young people, and a digital version of Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) that will greet guests at the course in advance of the 2025-26 season, and a “Pony World” in the Sha Tin infield. Happy Valley will also offer new amenities, including a digital parade ring and AI-generated racecards. The planned improvements are scheduled to be completed by December of 2025.
“Our most attractive offering we see when we do carnivals or in the public riding schools is taking photos with ponies,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “So this is a value proposition which obviously works, and for pony rides you always have a long queue. So this will be part of this entertainment experience for the public and especially with families.
“There is no betting. We will create a completely new zone. It's completely different from the normal racecourse experience. But we feel with this strategy, we want to create an experience for tourists which will be unique.
“When you look at Hong Kong racing, we want to promote the sport and sports entertainment. This is our key value proposition and this is for all segments.”
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