WOW - WHAT AN EPIC EXPERIENCE!

By Tim Clayton | Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Tim Clayton, along with Darren Winningham, represented HRO at Hong Kong last week, covering both the IJC and the HKIR. Winno has been there many times before with HRO, but it was a first opportunity for Clayton to experience the top level racing extravaganza that the Hong Kong Jockey Club host every year. To say that he was blown away by the experience is probably an understatement.

WOW!

My first (hopefully not last) experience at the LONGINES HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL RACES!!!

All I can say is WOW … what an experience ... from the moment I stepped off the plane on Saturday night after a lengthy delay leaving Melbourne only to be whisked away by pre organised transport.

Sunday morning and I was officially baptised on Hong Kong's very first racetrack, being Happy Valley. During the day it's like a sports mecca. Soccer, Rugby, running track for the public. What surprised me was that the public can access the track every day. In all the craziness there is a kind of peacefulness, escape to the venue.

But Happy Valley by night?

OMG it is just next level.

The lights, the noise, the glitz and glamour, the crowd, the horses. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced!

Then it is the turn of Sha Tin…. early start for trackwork for the upcoming LONGINES HKIR on the Sunday. Horses, trainers, jockeys, stable representatives from around the world. People everywhere – happy to let you take photos and talk to you about their horses and how they have settled in.

Sha Tin is the direct opposite of Happy Valley.

A racetrack only with stables for the local horses and a special area of stables for international race horses allowing them to be trained on the track and enjoy the immaculate training facilities offered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC). No recreational sporting venue here.

Come Sunday it was the LONGINES HKIR, the day where Hong Kong racing featured on the international stage – it was nothing short of epic.

Again, I was overwhelmed with everything ... the set-uo, the atmosphere and being able to meet countless people within the Hong Kong Jockey Club, jockeys and trainers.

For example, while everybody was great ... and I mean absolutely everybody ... no one stood out and impressed me quite like Aidan O’Brien.

It was Sunday, race day at Sha Tin. A crowd of over 65,000 packed the stands, when a chant began to bellow from the crowd ‘Aidan, Aidan, Aidan.

To my surprise I turned and there was Aidan O’Brien waving, smiling, mingling with the crowd. Signing autographs, caps, race books. Even when officials were trying to usher him off in preparation for the next race, he ignored them and continued to sign and talk to the fans. HIS fans.

My personal interaction with him started simply enough.

I wanted an autograph for my race books ... an approach which turned into a chat that really showed the real Aidan.

He was interested in interacting with me. Asking where I was from…. How I was enjoying my first experience in Hong Kong. I asked can you sign another book for my dad as he is a bit crook and couldn’t make it. He asked if he was ok, what happened etc.

He is just a genuine, honest, caring, human being.

He could have quite easily have signed my book and handed it back without a word. But no, I got the ‘let’s go have a beer with a mate’ kind of vibe from him.

If you ever get the chance to meet Aidan, drop whatever you’re doing and go say gidday! You won’t be disappointed.

The amazing day finished with a lengthy fireworks display that lit the sky in the home straight.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club not only operates as a business, but as a community with a culture. It’s for the racing, the horses, the jockeys, the fans, the punters. It's all about the competition between the horses and the jockeys. The spectacle that is brought to the spectators.

I want to thank the Hong Kong Jockey Club for their hospitality and support, Priscilla, and Larry especially for welcoming me with open arms.

Andrew Harding and Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges for making the opportunity possible!

The night ended with Winfried being presented with a massive birthday cake – which he was happy to share with us all – he even declared the champagne was on the house for the rest of the night!

The experience I’ve had in Hong Kong is all thanks to the Hong Kong Jockey Club and their tremendous resolve to make Hong Kong racing the centre of world racing.

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