Hong Kong Jockey Club reports 3% rise in racing turnover for 2024/25 season

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has reported that total racing wagering turnover for the 2024/25 season reached HK$138.85 billion (around £13.2 billion), a 3.0% increase on the previous season. The rise follows a 4.5% fall in turnover during 2023/24.

The season comprised 88 race meetings, including seven summer series fixtures, and covered 847 Hong Kong races plus 393 overseas simulcast races. The Club attributed the growth to improved jackpot structures, larger field sizes, rising Mainland and international tourism, and continued expansion of its global wagering network through commingling and the World Pool strategy.

Commingling and simulcast growth

Commingling turnover on Hong Kong races hit a record HK$31.76 billion, up 10.1% year-on-year, with more than 70 partners across 26 countries now taking part. The Chinese New Year Raceday in January saw commingling turnover rise 23.7% to HK$510.4 million, surpassing HK$500 million for the first time.

Following government approval for additional simulcasts, the Club broadcast 393 overseas races during the season, a 7% increase, including 71 races that had featured in the IFHA’s Top 100 rankings over the previous three years. Total simulcast turnover, including World Pool commingling, rose 2.3% to HK$13.11 billion. The number of World Pool races increased from 258 to 296, for the first time including all 12 of the Club’s Group 1 races and top New Zealand events.

Attendance and tourism

Racecourse attendance across the season exceeded 1.7 million, including a record 195,786 Mainland tourists, a 110% rise on the previous season’s 93,000. Major fixtures such as the Chinese New Year Raceday, BMW Hong Kong Derby and FWD Champions Day each drew around 9,000 tourists.

The Club said the increase was supported by the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Policy Address recognising racing tourism, its inclusion in the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Tourism Industry 2.0 blueprint, and a new partnership with China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited to promote racecourse tourism in the Greater Bay Area.

New venues including The Beat and Vantage at Happy Valley Racecourse, and the renovated Champion Circle and Inner Circle at Sha Tin, were introduced to enhance the racegoing experience. Happy Valley’s Happy Wednesday events drew total attendance of about 548,000, up 3.9% on the previous season.

Champion horses in the spotlight

Hong Kong-trained horses, led by Ka Ying Rising, Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble, won 11 top Group 1 races globally during the season, with eight Hong Kong races featured in the 2024 LONGINES World’s Top 100 Group/Grade 1 rankings. Twelve Hong Kong-trained horses achieved an international rating of 115 or higher in the year-ending 2024 LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.

HKJC Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said the season had been strengthened by record tourist numbers and outstanding performances from the Club’s leading horses, adding that these results reinforced Hong Kong’s standing as a global racing and tourism hub.