How happy she is, my valley

A first visit to the Hong Kong races, particularly to the Happy Valley urban racecourse on Wednesday evening, in the center of the city, is likely to revitalize the optimism of the most jaded of sociopros. Full as an egg, the vertical stands of the racecourse illuminate this green jewel that is the track while between races, for seven minutes, a music group sings hits which instantly lead groups of young people to dance, a pint of beer or a glass of chardonnay in hand. “Happy” is the right word*.

With 88 meetings per year, spread over the two racecourses it owns, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), which combines the missions of France Galop, PMU and Française des Jeux while benefiting from a monopoly on each of these activities, achieves an annual turnover of 36.3 billion euros, almost four times that of PMU and twice that of Française des Jeux. Nearly half of these stakes are made in races.

And we say to ourselves that they are very lucky, the people of Hong Kong, to enjoy eternal growth. Except that betting is down there, like in France. What does the boss (CEO) of the HKJC think? “ I understand the ambient pessimism that exists in certain equestrian nationsexplained Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, during a press point organized last week. It is certainly not unfounded because we are facing a global challenge. Here, every time the economy takes a hit, the money available for betting goes down. So contrary to what we sometimes believe from abroad, Hong Kong is not immune. Our domestic turnover is down 10%, a loss partly offset by the simulcasting of our races, but we are seeing an overall 6% drop in stakes. Thirty percent of our customers generate 70% of our turnover. However, many of these big bettors are in real estate, the stock market and the Chinese manufacturing industry, that is to say three sectors affected by economic difficulties. And we see a drop of 23% in this customer segment. »

Immediately, several questions arise: is this reduction permanent? “ No, we think it is temporary. ” How to cure it ? “ The majority of our customers are 50 and over. How to recruit younger punters? We have had some success in this area, but we will continue to invest significantly to meet the needs of generations Y (born between 1980 and 2000) and Z (born after 2000). For example, we recruited someone from Tencent Music [Tencent est une compagnie chinoise notamment propriétaire de WeChat, application de messagerie ultra-polyvalente, et de nombreuses applications sur le net, ndlr] who loves racing and helps us address these generations who do not communicate like us, are made up of communities rather than individuals. These groups exchange and communicate with each other differently. »

Beyond this significant recruitment, what means does the HKJC want to invest in bringing in more young people? “ To better serve them, we are committing more than 40 million euros to a space which is due to open in October 2025 in Sha Tin. There will be one in December this year in Happy Valley, but the next one will be more successful. It will be the scene of a connected racing experience like we’ve never seen before… »

What about gamification? “ We also think about it but necessarily stay on the real races. Real horses and jockeys in the flesh are part of the game. The generations we are targeting are hyper-connected, but the experience on the racetrack is essential. Ninety-five percent of our challenges are done digitally. However, it is at races that the public best appreciates our activity as a sport and as a theater of social relations. »

So much for the next generation of racers. It must be ensured on the part of the owners by investments in the territory of People’s China. After that of Beijing, it is in Shenzen that a clubhouse intended for the owners of tomorrow will be opened. Hong Kong’s little sister has become a metropolis in its own right, and Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges himself says he is impressed by its dynamism. “ Shenzen has become essential. It is a truly extraordinary city. We think that over the next two or three years we will recruit 100, maybe 150 owners there [ce qui est un grand nombre pour HK et son numerus clausus, ndlr], for the most part young entrepreneurs as we find many in this city. This should help us revitalize our helmets. »

How can this bring balm to the heart of Old Europe? The answer is before our eyes ten times a year, when Hong Kong punters bet in Singles on our pool races. Their participation amounts to more than 8 million euros for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe race alone…

The Hong Kong Jockey Club organizes the World Pool, an international betting platform of which it is the owner. Through this machinery, which is in the process of being updated to better connect the different markets and offer a wider range of bets to share, it offers around twenty third countries to entrust it with the management of pari-mutuel bets sharing the masses of all partners. Today, taking into account the fact that the PMU had already organized its own platform, and also because French withdrawals are approximately 30% larger than those of the World Pool, we are not directly linked to the World Pool, but rather associated through the World Pool by PMU brand.

For Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, however, the mission of the World Pool goes beyond simple commercial opportunism… “ The turnover of our simulcasting operations today reaches around 3.3 billion euros. With our next update, we will now have the ability to bring together multiple sites in the same program. We could go up to twelve races, which would allow us, for example, to start our program in Australia, follow here in Hong Kong, then in South Africa and Europe. We would get the best horse racing betting support in the world! »

How is the platform progressing? “ The demand has already responded, it remains to create the offer. If betting on the best international races could be connected on a single platform, all participants would benefit. The interest is very clear for combination games, which need a strong counterpart. » Follow my gaze…

In short, it would be a question of creating international meetings, straddling several time zones but respecting the same rules, the same principles and the same bets. Magnificent project!

Also president of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges sees even further: “ If the global racehorse population declines, there will be fewer horses capable of distinguishing themselves at the international level. It is therefore desirable that their program be designed in such a way that we can obtain the best racing possible by limiting competition from different horse racing jurisdictions. The allocations will make the difference and we will have to follow this path, at the risk of falling into second place. And I believe that in the future, some large partners will take a more strategic approach. I am also convinced that we will need to position horse racing as a global sport, for which the main organizers will need to work more closely together. It’s a natural evolution. We are not like Fifa, which controls all organizational rights and so it will be more complicated. The interest of the World Pool is also to encourage greater collaboration, for the good of all. Take, for example, the difficulties in moving horses due to drastic quarantine rules, particularly in Australia. Perhaps if we were all united to demand it, we could obtain a specific status for international level horses that allows them to be exempt from the most restrictive obligations, so that horses from different countries meet more often. Because the stakes are higher in the World Pool when horses from different countries meet. »

What timetable is possible? “ The transformation and standardization of rules sometimes takes time. But if you can argue that it is in the interest of the customer and the organizers that a racing rule must evolve, then it is easier to move towards common rules. This also allows us to ensure that everyone’s participation is possible. We convinced South Africa to use part of the World Pool revenues to improve health conditions, so that the International Federation was able to guide, assist and monitor the regularization of horse racing exchanges between the country and the rest of the world. world. Animal welfare is one of the biggest challenges we face. It would make sense to use even a portion of the revenue generated by the World Pool to move in this direction. »

Our issue can be summed up as follows: should we entrust our interests to the World Pool on certain occasions, even if it means lowering our share of withdrawal, to access larger masses and use our elite program in such a way that it participates more in its financing, and that of the sector? Can we, Converselyfor a long time to travel according to our sole conditions, were they more remunerative?

More than commercial, the answer (also subject to State approval) is almost philosophical: is there a model of the future different from the one we know? Everything suggests, at least today, that this model will be born in the East, beyond the rivers and the mountains.

* Today the valley is happy. But at the time (in 1840), the English settlers chose this nickname in derision, to mock the swamp infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes that Happy Valley was at the time.