Jockey Club cuts down on permits

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has taken steps to trim the local thoroughbred population in the wake of its recent decision to run fewer races each week.

In its bid to make the Hong Kong racing model more efficient, given the continued slide in wagering turnover, the Jockey Club now runs only seven races at Happy Valley on Wednesday nights and an occasional nine at Sha Tin (compared to a standard 8 and 10 respectively for the past few seasons). And as a consequence, the club has become aware of the potential secondary issue - too many horses for local racing requirements.

'Fewer number of import permits are to be issued when compared to last year, as we anticipate fewer races to be scheduled, which in turn would require a slightly smaller overall population of horses,' said Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Jockey Club's executive director of racing.

'Furthermore, the demand for Replacement Permits remains high [70-80 per year], thus necessitating a slightly lower number of import permits to be issued.'

The Jockey Club has announced that application for 220 import permits will be opened to eligible members on Monday, March 15 - down from 240 last year. A total of 170 permits for Privately Purchased Griffins (PPG) for import in the 2005-06 season will be available as well as 50 permits for Privately Purchased (PP) horses in 2004-05.

Owners are now allowed to own up to four horses in training at any one time, up from a previous limit of three. This will only affect those at the top end of the ownership spectrum but will be good news to those bigger, long-term supporters of Hong Kong racing. Syndicate managers are permitted to apply for a permit, both in the capacity as the manager of their respective syndicates and in their own right. But, similarly, they must not own more than four horses in training at any one time.