Racing is in the blood

TOP JOCKEY: Paul O'Sullivan at the Sha Tin racecourse.

Some of Hong Kong's top horses and trainers are Kiwi exports earning the country millions.  

When some of the world's finest horses are under starter's orders at Sha Tin or Happy Valley Racecourses the atmosphere of excitement among the regular sell-out crowds attending builds to fever pitch. This is Hong Kong's most popular pastime, and New Zealand plays a big part in it. 

The Hong Kong Jockey Club receives US$10.4 billion in annual betting revenue from just two racecourses. The total revenue generated from almost 170 racetracks in the United States yearly is - according to Fortune Magazine - just over US$12 billion. 

The grand old lady of horseracing in Hong Kong, Happy Valley Racecourse, was complemented by the Sha Tin racecourse, built in the New Territories in 1980. The new track is much larger, housing more than double Happy Valley's 35,000. It is here that the Hong Kong Cup, Hong Kong Mile, Hong Kong Vase and Hong Kong Sprint are all held during the September to July season. 

There is no horse breeding   in Hong Kong, so all horses are imported. In fact, the Hong Kong market is the second biggest for New Zealand horses after Australia. And they're doing very well. New Zealand horses make up 30 per cent of runners on the Hong Kong tracks and 40 per cent of winners. 

New Zealand bloodstock marketing manager Petrea Vela says that record is key for holding Hong Kong interest in our horses. 

"How New Zealand-bred horses perform on Hong Kong's racetracks is one of the key determining factors for the demand for our horses from that market in any given year, and it's therefore important that our horses keep delivering for their owners there," she says. 

The dollars coming to New Zealand from horse sales are significant, says Vela. "The exports to Hong Kong are from both auction sales and private sales. As an indication from the auction sale side, at the Yearling Sales Series at Karaka this year, 61 yearlings were bought by Hong Kong buyers for NZ$7,401,500. In 2005, a total of 110 New Zealand horses were exported to Hong Kong." 

Kiwi horse trainer Paul O'Sullivan is enjoying life in the biggest job of his career; a Hong Kong trainer.  He is the first New Zealander to hold a trainer's licence in Hong Kong.

"From the horse trainer's point of view it is by far the best job in the world." 

There are just 24 trainers in Hong Kong - 12 local trainers and 12 expats. O'Sullivan was 21st on the ladder last season and this season he currently stands at seventh. More than half of his horses are New Zealand-bred, which he describes as 'versatile and tough'. 

"There are no rolling green paddocks - the horses live in three-floor high rises in air-conditioned boxes.  However the facilities are world class. You lack for absolutely nothing." 

O'Sullivan is impressed with the way the Hong Kong Jockey Club operates. "They guarantee the Hong Kong government HK$8 billion a year and turnover something like NZ$15m a race."