The next tests for the Good Neighbour Policy (GNP) will begin behind the scenes at the all-important Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe meeting in Paris this weekend. The Arc meeting is more than a race meeting. It is a forum, wherein the world's administrators gather to talk about developments in racing which have the potential to affect them all.
To this point, the GNP has been dragged along by Hong Kong and Japan, gathering Asian Racing Federation nations to the fold along the way. But in Paris, the talk will be on how to include some of racing's older, more traditional homes in the agreement and, hopefully, to bring the GNP along as a process of expansion rather than simply a fencing-in of betting turnover.
Despite comments that the GNP can lead to a kind of global racing community with the benefits shared across boundaries, to date it has not looked like anything more than a highlighting and strengthening of boundaries.
The Jockey Club says there is great interest in the GNP in established European racing nations. The first instance of wagering by French operator, PMU, on Hong Kong's international showcase meeting in December is going to be one more small step towards eventual aims of cross-betting between the good neighbours, global markets and mutual benefits.
We hope that is the case, because unless the GNP can move on to being a proactive growth plan, its questionable defensive worth will not be enough to sustain it for too long.