Conghua Training Centre Opens

[Wandering Eyes]

The Conghua Training Centre began operations on Tuesday, June 12, with the first horses to be stabled at the facility, a 14-horse group shipped from Sha Tin, arriving at 10:38 a.m. The opening of the centre marks the start of the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s dual-site operations in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. All of the horses in the first shipment are retired Thoroughbreds owned by the Club’s Racing Development Board (RDB) and will educate the new staff. The second shipment of horses, 21 also owned by the RDB, will take place on Thursday, June 14. Active racehorses will arrive at the CTC in July, with an official opening ceremony on Aug. 28.

“This is a historic moment for the Hong Kong Jockey Club,” said Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chief Executive Officer. “The commencement of the dual-site operations represents a significant achievement made possible by the establishment of the Equine Disease Free Zone. Hong Kong horses will enjoy the same health status whether they are stabled and trained in Sha Tin or at CTC. They can travel between both locations and race in Hong Kong, including against overseas horses in international races. The permanent stabling of the first batch of horses today came after the successful inspection of CTC’s quarantine facilities and operations by Guangzhou Customs and the Conghua Agricultural Bureau. I would like to thank the various government departments in Hong Kong and the Mainland for their support.

He added, “The CTC is a world-class facility that will allow for the continued growth of Hong Kong racing. The centre will offer new options to our owners and trainers and will enable us to expand Hong Kong’s horse population as we look to future development. The opening of the Conghua Training Centre will also make it possible for us to commence the important work of further refurbishment of the Sha Tin stabling.”

“The Club has worked closely with the relevant agencies in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland to ensure that the proper systems are in place to ensure the safe and efficient movement of horses along the quarantine corridor between Sha Tin and Conghua, and that the CTC site is entirely biosecure,” said the HKJC’s Executive Director, Racing, Andrew Harding. “Today’s convoy is the culmination of years of work and is an important step as we integrate CTC into Hong Kong’s training system. The RDB horses that have arrived in Conghua today will play an important role in ensuring that our state-of-the-art facilities are ready for the arrival of our in-training horses next month. In the future, these horses will assist in the training of new staff at CTC.”

View the full article