The heavy rain and thunder brought by the approaching Tropical Storm Tapah did little to deter racing fans in Hong Kong on Sunday, as the season opened in lively fashion at Sha Tin.

While the weather led to a dip in attendance and betting turnover, more than 43,000 fans passed through the gates at both of the city’s racecourses, and some HK$1.3 billion changed hands.

And Hong Kong Jockey Club boss Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said he was “very proud” of his team for putting on an event with the No 3 typhoon signal in effect.

Crowds, including a healthy number of tourists, started gathering at Sha Tin from 8am, no doubt also drawn by the appearance of singer MC Cheung Tin-fu at the opening ceremony, and the chance to watch the city’s best horse, Ka Ying Rising, in action in the feature race.

Ultimately, some 43,259 people turned out to watch, with 4,260 of them heading to Happy Valley and the comfort of the main stand. That total was 8.96 per cent down on last year, something Engelbrecht-Bresges said was “no surprise in this weather”.

Betting turnover, meanwhile, came in at HK$1,315,323,628, down just 0.06 per cent.

“I only can say that I have never started a race meeting in my life with a T3,” Engelbrecht-Bresges, the club’s CEO, said. “I’m really delighted that we managed, under difficult circumstances, to have a very good start to the season.

“When you see how much rain our tracks could cope with, I’m proud of the tracks’ team. When we look at the pure business results, we are up by 0.2 per cent when you compare without simulcast turnover, which again is an amazing result.”

The gates opened at 11am to torrential rain, and the Jockey Club boss admitted to being “a little bit nervous” with the forecast predicting heavy showers for the afternoon.

As it was, the rain largely stayed away, and the opening day began in the traditional manner, with the city’s leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, taking part in the lion’s eye-dotting ceremony before striking the gong to get the action on the track started.

In a post on his official Facebook page, the chief executive highlighted the “lively atmosphere” and the record number of visitors racing attracted to the city last season, adding that he looked forward to the Tourism Board “continuing to collaborate” with the Jockey Club in that area.

There were certainly plenty of tourists mixed in with local punters, and while not everyone was betting, the event was enough on its own to pull them in.

Among the first-timers were a group of 40 students from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Hao Long, from Singapore, said she had only been to horse racing once at home, before the city state stopped the sport in October 2024.

“I’m not into gambling or anything, neither a poker nor casino person,” she said. “But coming here and being in the VIP box and seeing the horses go around, and then trying to see whether the one you bet on is moving ahead is actually quite exciting.”

Others getting their first taste of the sport included tourists Gregory Stolyarenko, 45, and Vladimir Smetannikov, 44, who were in Hong Kong for a two-day trip before leaving for Beijing on Monday.

“We had never visited any racecourse anywhere, so just thought it might be a good idea to check it out,” Stolyarenko said.

For locals, meanwhile, it was a first opportunity to see new facilities installed as part of the club’s HK$14 billion master plan to develop the sport. The new Champions Connection and Genso Eki venues feature digital entertainment aimed at attracting the younger generation to the races and promoting Sha Tin as a “platinum race-going experience” for locals and tourists.

“To be honest, I am impressed with the new facilities, especially considering that they were exclusive in Hong Kong,” Louie Ho, a 53-year-old banker, said. “The bettors would not stop coming even if the club didn’t do anything, but they were still splashing money to upgrade everything.

“It’s giving us some new experience, so it’s always a good thing. I think it can help attract the younger generation and overseas tourists.”

But senior punter in his seventies, who would only give his name as Ng, and said he visited Sha Tin Racecourse almost every race day, did not think it would make a difference for him, or some of the other local fans.

“For us, we would have come no matter how the betting hall looks, it’s all about winning money coming here, so I’d rather they just show me the money,” he said.