Despite a New Year bonanza, Club pushes for a deal to end seven-year freefall
The Jockey Club put a sobering perspective on season-best turnover and attendance figures at yesterday's Lunar New Year meeting by laying the responsibility for racing's future squarely at the doorstep of the Treasury.
The Jockey Club will next week go back into negotiations with the government on the long-awaited wagering reforms, which have the potential to reignite racing after seven seasons of downturn, but which are being stalled by politicians and bureaucracy.
Executive director of racing Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges welcomed the day's betting turnover figure of $1.043 billion, the highest of the season and $20 million up on last year's Lunar New Year fixture. Attendance was also positive, up from 74,322 in 2004 to 76,030, as punters flocked to Sha Tin to try their luck at the first meeting in the Year of the Rooster.
'The last two races featured very strong betting - $137 million for race nine and $133 million on the final event,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'It shows once again that in an improving economy, if we are able to offer the right product, the customer will come back.
'But I warn everyone against complacency. This cannot be regarded as growth because we are right at the bottom of a trough that is seven years deep. This may hopefully be a levelling out, but it is not a turnaround.
'What it does is to give us a breather, to have a look at our opposition and reposition ourselves for the future. And I have to say, in an era where there is competition like never before, we urge the government to seriously consider our request for taxation reform and take a long-term view of this business.'
