More good news from Asia-Pacific: we had the first paying fans at baseball in Taiwan over this past weekend which we covered in yesterday’s Five Things column.
Now the Hong Kong Jockey Club has said that on Wednesday 13 May they will open the Happy Valley racecourse doors to, not everyone, but a significantly larger number of people than have been able to attend the city’s famous races since the coronavirus lockdown started.
The following were always allowed to attend:
- Trainers and jockeys,
- club officials and stewards,
But allowed in for the first time under the loosened regulations:
- horse owners,
- voting members, members and
- racing club members and their accompanying guests who have made an advanced table booking will be admitted.
According to the Racing Post, ‘Those who do attend will have to fill in a health declaration form and undergo temperature screening as well as wearing a surgical mask. There is still no access for members of the public.’
‘To comply with the government’s conditions on group gatherings in the parade ring, a maximum of two registered owners and the trainer, jockey and assistant trainer will be allowed to congregate pre-race. Each horse is allocated its own area according to its saddlecloth number to ensure there is at least 1.5m between each group.’
The lockdown of racing in Hong Kong was first put in place for the meeting on February 12. Since then there has been an average of just under 234 people at each of the 11 race nights at the Happy Valley track. There were 776 customers who attended Saturday’s card at Sha Tin in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Off-course Jockey Club betting services remain closed for the moment.
‘The catering facilities in the racecourses will operate in full compliance with the requirements issued by the secretary for food and health for the catering business,’ the Jockey Club said in a statement. ‘Each dining table will only accommodate not more than eight persons and there will be at least a 1.5m distance between the tables.’
