About 20,000 spectators pack into Happy Valley to soak in final day of horse racing season
Many younger attendees choose to not bet on Happy Wednesday, which has a theme of ‘Music Festival’ over the past five weeks
Tens of thousands of punters packed into Hong Kong’s Happy Valley Racecourse to soak up the party atmosphere on the last day of the horse racing season on Wednesday, with many saying it was the busiest they had ever seen.
A full house, estimated to be around 20,000 spectators, attended Happy Wednesday, which featured live bands, DJs and a fireworks display.
Happy Wednesday is one of Hong Kong’s two horse racing events that run weekly throughout the season. The Happy Valley event is known to attract a younger crowd and tourists with a lively atmosphere because of its HK$10 (US$1.30) entry and focus on food, alcohol and live music.
Hong Kong Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said that the crowd showed Hong Kong horse racing was more than a gambling spectacle.
“It is the excitement of Hong Kong, I think it will be a full house, and that is something which epitomises Hong Kong,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “It’s a passion for horse racing. It’s a passion of energy, of close finishes, dynamism.
“Horse racing in Hong Kong is absolutely unique, and the most unique place in the world for horse racing is Happy Valley.