Opinion | Controversial lawmaker Junius Ho holds Hong Kong racing hostage – and there are no winners
- The pro-establishment politician creates a chaotic situation that puts the Jockey Club between a rock and a hard place
- Given the precedence and likely sentiment, is the Chinese National Day meeting on October 1 in doubt too?
Racing in Hong Kong was brought to a standstill on Wednesday because of one person – controversial pro-establishment lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu.
The Jockey Club could have easily avoided this mess if it stripped the polarising political figure of his membership, while stopping the horse he part-owns – Hong Kong Bet – from running at all.
If it did that then the races would continue unaffected (as they had for the first four meetings of the season), there would be no protesters on course and thousands of people’s livelihoods wouldn’t be impacted.
That is the prevailing view after the shock last-minute cancellation of Wednesday night’s meeting at Happy Valley – and there is a lot of truth to it.
But the reality is not that simple – the Jockey Club was caught between a rock and a hard place.
It could have bowed to the overwhelming majority and halted Ho’s horse from competing, but that means picking a side when it is doing its level best to stay neutral.
