The Macau Jockey Club (MJC) will halt its 44-year-long operations on April 1, and the Post asked on Saturday two horse racing punters about their views on the end of Macau’s centuries-old horse-racing history, both expressing dadness about the closure of the club.
The government announced last week the discontinuation of Macau Horse Race Company Ltd.’s horse-racing business from April 1 this year.
According to separate press conferences by the government and the company last Monday, due to various difficulties affecting the company’s operations, the latter had already requested the government in the middle of last year to terminate its concession agreement that had allowed it to run horse races in Macau until 2042.
Chan, who is in his eighties, said: “I used to bet on Hong Kong racing... I have bet on Hong Kong racing since the 1960s,” adding that he felt sad that the jockey club’s business will not be taken over by another operator. Chan also said he will lose a place to hang out with friends.
Ho, who is in his sixties and has been betting on horse races in Hong Kong and Macau for about 50 years, said that the closure of the club was “inevitable” because it often lost money, adding that the number of punters at the Macau Jockey Club was much lower than the one at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
The government said that once the termination of the horse-racing concession takes effect on April 1, the site and facilities will revert to the government free of charge. The government also said that no casino would be built on the huge site in Taipa.
Ho said he would like the government to build public facilities such as parks and ball courts, instead of hotels, on the site, saying that there were too many residential buildings there already.
The Macau Jockey Club, previously known as the Macau Trotting Club, was established through a concession agreement signed between Macau’s then-Portuguese administration and the shareholders in 1991.
Macau’s first horse races were reportedly held back in the early 17th century.
Punters watch a race at the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) on Saturday.
Chan, a veteran horse-racing punter, looks on during an interview with the Post on Saturday at the horse-racing track in Taipa. – Photos: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
