Horse racing will come to an end on March 31 when the Macau Jockey Club will halt its 44-year-long operations, which began as the Macau Trotting Club in 1980.
The Macau government gazetted an executive order yesterday morning according to which Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong has been given the authority to sign an agreement with Macau Horse Race Company Ltd to terminate the latter’s horse-racing concession effective from April 1, 2024.
When the company’s horse-racing concession expired in August 2017, the government extended it in 2018 for a period of 24 years and six months, i.e., from March 1, 2018 to August 31, 2042.
Addressing yesterday’s press conference at Government Headquarters on Avenida da Praia Grande, Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon said that due to the difficulties affecting the company’s operations and the inability of horse-racing activities to meet the current development needs of civil society, the company applied in mid-2023 for the termination of its concession agreement allowing it to run horse races in Macau.
“As a result of the restrictions imposed by the mainland on betting on horse racing in Macau, the income of the company has been greatly reduced,” Cheong said, adding that even though the company has made investments to renovate its facilities and launch a number of new development projects, due to factors such as environmental concerns and the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s operation has not been effectively improved.
In view of the fact that horse racing has become a vanishing industry in many places, with a number of neighbouring countries having announced the discontinuation of their horse-racing businesses, Cheong said, the government, after an in-depth study, decided to terminate the Macau Jockey Club’s concession contract and not to launch a public tender for new horse-racing operations, as the industry has failed to produce both the social and economic benefits that it should.
According to Cheong, excluding the income from online betting, only 140 million patacas was wagered on the local horse races last year, and the number of spectators dropped from about 38,000 in 2020 to 29,000 last year, while the punters’ average attendance per race day stood at only 701 in 2021, 570 in 2022 and 492 last year.
In line with the law and the termination agreement, Cheong said, the site and related facilities of the racecourse will be allocated to Macau’s land reservation system for overall study and utilisation, after the termination of the horse-racing concession takes effect on April 1, adding that the site and facilities will revert to the government free of charge. Cheong underlined that the site will not be used for casinos.
289 horses to rehome by March, 570 staff to be compensated
The Macau Jockey Club currently employs a total of 570 local and non-residents workers and stables 289 horses.
Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) Administration Committee member Ung Sau Hong said during the press conference that the horse racing company has promised to rehome all the 289 horses, including the retired ones, to other locations by the end of March next year, adding: “It is understood that the company intends to relocate the horses to the mainland for equestrian use, or places such as equestrian clubs”.
Ung said that the bureau has been conducting regular inspections of the stables’ hygiene conditions, underlining that it will continue to conduct inspections there to check whether the horses are properly taken care of, while providing assistance in removing the horses from Macau.
The press conference noted that once the land has reverted to the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), the government will lend it to the Jockey Club free of charge until March 31, 2025 for the purpose of relocating the horses to other places, during which the operating expenses of the facilities and venues will still be borne by the company itself.
Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Director Wong Chi Hong said during the press conference that the Macau Jockey Club has 254 local employees and 316 non-resident workers (NRWs), and the company has promised to pay compensation for dismissal in accordance with the law. He added that the company’s shareholders have expressed interest in recruiting local staff.
Wong said: “We will work with the company to enhance all employees’ labour rights awareness.”
Jockey Club ‘fails’ to boost Macau’s diversified economic development
“When the government was discussing renewal with Macau Horse Race Company Ltd in 2018, the company submitted an investment plan which highlighted the renovation of the old facilities and the planning of new projects,” Cheong pointed out, adding that with the aim of promoting Macau’s diversified economic development, the government at that time decided to extend the concession contract with the company.
Cheong was quick to add that following the three-year-long COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s income was still going down last year, so the government accepted the company’s request to terminate its exclusive horse-racing concession.
Cheong stressed that the mutual agreement to terminate the horse races was accepted by the government after taking into account various public interests, adding that a horse-racing concession is different to a casino gambling concession as the latter is more tightly regulated than the former.
Cheong said that the Macau Jockey Club’s concession agreement does not include any provisions for fines or compensation in the case that it is terminated before its expiry, irrespective of whether the two sides negotiate or unilaterally terminate the agreement.
Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Adriano Marques Ho pointed out during the press conference that the Macau Horse Race Company still owed the government 150 million patacas in taxes in 2018 but had paid off the amount in phases in 2021, in line with the concession contract. Marques Ho added that the company has met all its obligations since the signing of its concession contract in 2018.
Jockey Club suffers losses of 2.5 billion patacas
Meanwhile, a separate press conference held by representatives of the Board of Directors and Management of Macau Horse Race Company Ltd at the Macau Jockey Club building in Taipa yesterday afternoon noted that the company has been operating at a loss since 1991, which has reached 2.5 billion patacas.
According to the about 10-minute-long press conference, where journalists were not able to ask questions, the Macau Jockey Club, previously known as the Macau Trotting Club, was established through a contract signed between Macau’s then Portuguese administration and the shareholders in 1991. Since the introduction of flat horse racing by a Taiwanese consortium in 1989, the club endured severe financial crises and social concerns, the representatives said.
Throughout its history, the representatives said, the club has consistently adhered to the principles of diversification of gaming through horse racing to support the continuous development of Macau’s tourism industry and its social welfare obligations.
The representatives promised to arrange the necessary briefing sessions, assistance and job referrals for the company’s staff, and comply with the provisions of the city’s labour law to provide appropriate compensation, while also providing the specific details and communicating with all the owners regarding the necessary arrangements for their horses in the runup to March 31 next year, in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations.
According to the press conference, the company will cease all racing-related operations from April 1 this year, while current member facilities will remain available to the Jockey Club members for the time being.
According to the Macau Jockey Club website, Macau’s horse-racing history goes back to the early 17th century. Horse-races were held on and off in the next three centuries. After a prolonged hiatus, horse races finally made a local comeback in August 1980 when the Macau Trotting Club run by local gambling tycoon Yip Hon started operating. The harness-racing business proved unsuccessful, and Taiwanese investors also failed in their flat-racing operations, after which casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung Sun entered the horse-racing business with the establishment of the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) in 1991.
This photo taken yesterday shows part of the facilities of the Macau Jockey Club which will cease its horse-racing operations on March 31. – Photo: Yuki Lei
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon (second from left), Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) Administration Committee member Ung Sau Hong (left), Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Director Wong Chi Hong (right) and Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Adriano Marques Ho pose during yesterday’s press conference about the termination of Macau Horse Race Company Ltd’s horse-racing concession upon the latter’s requests, at Government Headquarters on Avenida da Praia Grande. – Photo: Yuki Lei
