“In organising race meetings, the club always puts safety as a top priority,” the Jockey Club said in a statement.

“The club has been monitoring the situation in Hong Kong closely. It has conducted a thorough risk assessment of the race meeting tonight and concluded that the latest social unrest and public transportation situation throughout the territory do not support our employees and racegoers arriving and particularly departing from the racecourse smoothly and safely.

“As such, the club has decided to cancel the race meeting at Happy Valley racecourse tonight.”

All cash bets on the meeting will be refunded upon presentation of tickets at any off-course betting branch or at the racecourses during opening hours within 60 days.

The cancellation is a big blow to the Jockey Club at a time when it wants everything to run smoothly, with its marquee meeting – the Hong Kong International Races – less than a month away.

It also comes at a big financial cost, with the meeting unable to be replaced as there are no slots left on the calendar.

Last week’s meeting held HK$1.327 billion in turnover, of which HK$131 million went to the government in betting duty and HK$60 million was retained by the Jockey Club for operating costs and charity donations.

It comes less than 24 hours after the Jockey Club was forced to deny a rumour suggesting that Sha Tin racecourse was being used as a base by the Hong Kong Police as it confronted protesters at the nearby Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“It has come to the attention of the Hong Kong Jockey Club that there is a rumour circulating on online platforms this evening that the Sha Tin Racecourse has been used as a police base,” the Jockey Club statement said.

“The club would like to clarify that this is untrue. The fact is some police vehicles accessed the racecourse road without notifying the club. The police has not entered the Sha Tin Communications and Technology Centre or other club facilities.”