Horse-crazy children denied the chance to see Olympic test event
I am general manager of the Hong Kong Equestrian Centre. Many of my riders were excited as the Olympic test event (Good Luck Beijing - HKSAR 10th Anniversary Cup) at Beas River and Sha Tin approached, and the prospect of seeing international riders in Hong Kong was thrilling.
I approached the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) for an allocation of tickets for my many students who are horse mad and were dying to go.
I have a core group of students who live and breathe horses and many have spent their entire summer holidays with us here at the stables. I contacted Beas River and they were under the impression that all riding schools would receive an allocation and I was passed on to the FEI.
I wrote to the recommended person saying that I had many riders who were very keen to see the events and could I receive an allocation for our club. I never heard a thing and wrote twice more.
In the end, I contacted a senior member of the Jockey Club who informed me that the FEI had issued all tickets. You can imagine how irritating it was to hear the television commentators announce how poor the attendance was and that there was obviously little interest in riding in Hong Kong.
What rubbish - we have a waiting list for lessons and have more than 300 regular riders who are dedicated to horses and riding who would have been there with their families in a flash.
It is the usual Hong Kong story - all the tickets went to corporate customers who have zero interest in the sport. I appreciate that they may be sponsors but surely they would rather align themselves with an event with perceived popularity.
I would be very interested to know who made the ticket allocation selection and chose to ignore the most obvious market.
They should learn from the Hong Kong Rugby Union, which reserves a large allocation of Rugby Sevens tickets to the mini rugby groups every year.
Sadly, this is not an annual event and it was a missed chance for many of these disappointed youngsters.
Nicky Loiterton, general manager,
Hong Kong Equestrian Centre, Shek Kong
