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When Hong Kong’s Happy Valley got night racing up and running in 1973
Floodlights transformed the city’s racecourse, drawing crowds that spilled from the track onto balconies, car parks and jammed streets
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“Senior officials of the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club are investigating the possibility of holding night race meetings at Happy Valley […] another step on the professional road which will eventually lead to year-round racing,” reported the South China Morning Post on March 30, 1972.
“A leading Hongkong architect has been engaged to draw up the plans for the installation of a floodlighting system […] In the words of one senior steward of the club: ‘We have only one major worry. The state of the track.’”
The issue was addressed in a later Post column, on May 2, where “the top executive of the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club, General Bernard Penfold, yesterday disclosed ambitious plans for the club’s professional future with night racing on an all-weather dirt track at Happy Valley.
“Said Australian jockey Ross MacMillan: ‘This will be a great benefit to professional riders. We really need more race days and this has come at an opportune moment.’ There could be difficulties before the plan swung [sic] into operation. Government and police approval will be necessary before midweek night racing becomes a reality. However, it is an ambitious plan deserving full support.”
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