Hong Kong Season-End Turnover Rises 3% To £13.2 Billion

[Wandering Eyes]

At the close of the 2024/2025 Hong Kong season, total racing wagering turnover was HK$138.85 billion (approx. £13.2b), a rise of 3% on the previous season. Overall, there were 88 race meetings comprised of 847 races and 393 overseas simulcast races.

Hong Kong races attracted record commingling turnover of HK$31.76 billion, a 10.1% increase on the 2023/24 season. In total, 71 overseas races that had been in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' (IFHA) Top 100 at least once during the previous three years were simulcast, up from 61 the previous season.

Overall, turnover on simulcasting (including World Pool commingling) for the season was up by 2.3% to HK$13.11 billion. This season, the number of World Pool races increased from 258 to 296 including, for the first time, all 12 of the Club's Group 1 races as well as top races from New Zealand. Commingling turnover into the World Pool (excluding Club races) recorded an 8.4% increase over last season.

From an attendance perspective, over 1.7 million people attended the races, including a record 195,786 Mainland tourists, plus international visitors. This was a significant 110% increase on the 93,000 Mainland tourists who visited last season.

   Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress), the latest Horse of the Year, led a talented brigade of Hong Kong runners, with Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) and Voyage Bubble (Deep Field) also earning season-end titles. John Size earned a record 13th Hong Kong trainers' championship and Zac Purton took his eighth jockeys' title.

Next season, there will be a Group 1 prize-money increase to a record HK$1.74 billion. The Club will offer record prize-money totalling HK$208 million in these races in the 2025/26 season. For FWD Champions Day, prize-money for the FWD QEII Cup will rise to HK$30 million, while the Chairman's Sprint Prize will increase to HK$24 million, taking the total prize-money for the three Group 1 races to a total of HK$78 million. For the international day in December, the increases apply to the Longines Hong Kong Sprint (HK$28m), and the Longines Hong Kong Vase (HK$26m), while the Longines Hong Kong Mile stays on HK$36 million and the Longines Hong Kong Cup will be run for prize-money of HK$40 million, taking the total Group 1 prize-money purse to HK$130 million.

On average, 440 horses were trained at Conghua Racecourse (CRC) this season, with 219 horses from 19 stables notching 302 wins, an increase of 17.7% and 24.3% respectively on last season. The HKJC is also preparing for the start of regular meetings at the CRCC in October 2026, with the iconic grandstand nearing completion.

HKJC's CEO, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, said, “It's been an amazing season, with outstanding performances by top horses that have truly captured the imagination of fans not just in Hong Kong but around the world. Since the Policy Address of HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee, we have been able to attract even more Mainland and overseas tourists, who have come to our racecourses in record numbers to experience our city's signature sport for themselves. These achievements strengthen the position of Hong Kong racing as a world-class sport and entertainment experience. They have also made an important contribution to Hong Kong tourism as well as underlining Hong Kong's vital role as a centre for East-West exchange.”

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