There’s much perception versus reality involved, and speaking recently to a young overseas jockey who was considering applying for a license to ride in Hong Kong, I advised her that being part and parcel of Hong Kong racing first requires doing serious due diligence about how the city works and sees itself today and what the government is thinking about based on the financial and business objectives of China. It’s also about knowing exactly where a gambling driven pastime lik

With a new byline covering the New Year’s Day race meeting at Shatin and writing about “a slow start to the day” before a “festive atmosphere ultimately drew almost 50,000 spectators including nearly 10,000 from the mainland”, it was hardly any surprise for Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO and official cheerleader to describe the day as “terrific”. Written by someone named Mike Chan, we particularly liked reading this little morsel: “Meanwhile, a re

Though with everything that has happened in the past almost two weeks and a sombre mood still hanging over Hong Kong after the fires in the three blocks of apartments in Tai Po, it’s “interesting” to see that the group known as Now United is suddenly back in the picture, and will be prancing around the racecourse in Happy Valley on HKIJC night with, one supposes, their Gangnam Style Giddyup dance moves. Frankly, Hong Kong needs to get back to some semblance of good times and