The Hong Kong Jockey Club is leading the world in a bid to create new and superior grass types for racecourses through genetic modification.
In collaboration with scientific researchers in Australia, the club is now trialling two genetically modified grasses for possible inclusion into the turf mix at Sha Tin and Happy Valley in coming years.
John Ridley, the Jockey Club's head of racing operations and equestrian, said the club was always trying to improve the racing conditions on Hong Kong turf tracks, particularly in May and June.
'The transition period [going from winter rye grass to summer bermuda grass] has been a problem every year for as far back as you'd like to go,' Ridley said, reacting to criticism over the thin turf cover and leader biases that were exhibited at both tracks at the tail-end of last season.
'There are three factors that contribute to why we have problems every year - first, lack of sunlight hours; second, rainfall patterns; and third, temperature change.
'This year in May and June, we had much less sunlight and more rainfall than usual. We really start to panic, and I mean panic, around QE-II Cup time [late April] with the rye grass dying off once the temperature gets up to 25 degrees Celsius and the worry that the bermuda won't grow back in time,' Ridley stated. 'Also, grass dies off quicker with a sand base [both tracks] rather than soil as sand heats up much quicker.
'The bottom line is that Hong Kong just doesn't get enough sunlight at this time of year for the good grass growth we need and therefore we are looking at experimenting with other grasses that may better cope in this transition time.