Nader believes the equestrian games have proved a point, with big crowds attending the events at the venues built by the Jockey Club.

'Before the Olympics, I don't think anyone here would have believed that you could get more than 18,000 Hong Kong people to enjoy themselves at a horse event that offered no gambling, but that's what we saw here,' Nader said.

'The club is also working on a master plan that will meet the needs of racegoers not just now, but 15 to 20 years into the future.

'We have surveyed our customers more extensively than ever before to establish what it is they really want and we will then create the environment that gives it to them.'

Jockey Club representatives spent significant amounts of time talking to large representations of all customer segments.

'As Winfried [Engelbrecht-Bresges, Jockey Club chief executive] said, we may think we know what our customers want, but it's important in any business to truly know what it is they want,' Nader said. 'We have really gone the extra mile here to understand what it is that the different types of customers enjoy, and we are then better placed to create meaningful programmes that will get them more involved, and return to racing more often.'

Last year's successful innovation of the trainers' race for charity will be staged again tomorrow, with trainers Me Tsui Yu-sak, Paul O'Sullivan and last year's winner Derek Cruz doing battle down the straight.

This time the prize money has been doubled to HK$400,000, and all of it will go to the charities of choice for the first, second and third finishers.

'It was very popular last year and, although there were only three entries this year, we've decided to go ahead and hold it again,' Nader said. 'We've increased the prize money for it and all of it goes to charity. Once again, it is piece of sporting entertainment that does not have a gambling aspect.'

The director knows as well as anyone that it's gambling that pays the bills, and this year the Jockey Club's wagering products have a few new dimensions. The place pool has been given a long-overdue revamp, getting rid of the silly dividend range and replacing it with a single approximate dividend, along identical lines to the way the win pool works.

The club has also borrowed from the very successful Australian Flexibet concept, which will give small-to-medium players the chance to play bigger and formerly more expensive exotic bets, like Six Up and Triple Trio.

'We're quite excited about the response we've been receiving on Place betting, and we hope it will gain the improved turnover that we anticipate,' Nader said. 'By giving the players a single dividend instead of a payment range, we've really simplified it and taken the guesswork out of it.'

The last meeting of the old season ended on a high, with the July 3 meeting at Happy Valley grossing HK$912 million to make it the highest-turnover evening meeting at the city venue for six years.

Nader is hoping for continued growth and has promised that, as a matter of club policy, all customers are being cared for no matter their betting profile.

'We're being very careful to try and offer our fans the best possible racing product and racing experience, while at the same time maintaining those little extras that set us apart as an organisation.'

Seasonal cheer

1 The last meeting (July 3) of the old season at Happy Valley ended on a high - The HK$912 million turnover was the highest for an evening meeting at the city venue for six years.

2 More than 18,000 Hong Kong people enjoyed a horse event - Olympic equestrianism - that offered no gambling.

3 The trainers' charity race tomorrow will see three handlers, Me Tsui Yu-sak, Paul O'Sullivan and last year's winner Derek Cruz, doing battle down the straight 800 metres course. This time the prize money has been doubled to HK$400,000.

4 The new season will feature important changes to the place betting along with the new Flexi Bet format. Pre-race place-betting displays will now show a single dividend, as is the case with win odds, instead of the unwieldy range of dividends previously used.

5 Flexi Bet also promises to be an exciting innovation, especially in the super exotics - Triple Trio, Six Up and all-up wagers, with players now able to nominate the total amount they wish to bet on their combinations or continue with the old system of nominating a unit bet.