Delegates to the 40th Asian Racing Conference heard a world’s worth of accents in delivering mostly positive reports on the status of racing in member jurisdictions on the second day of meetings Aug. 29 in Sapporo, Japan.
The more than 800 delegates digested glowing rundowns from jurisdictions such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are in the middle of the expansion of international racing, to relatively small but still important steps from smaller racing countries, including South Africa and New Zealand, which have struggled with problems.
Those tributes, however, came against the backdrop of the end of racing in former members Macau and Singapore, which gave rise to a conference theme of ensuring racing’s “social license” to exist.
Throughout the day, there was an unstated theme of international cooperation among the Asian Racing Federation countries.
His Excellency Mohammed Saeed Al Shehhi, general manager of the Emirates Racing Authority, provided a rundown of the development of racing in Dubai and promoted his country’s status as “the largest hub in the region for import and export of horses.”
That role is important, as Middle Eastern racing’s place in the global market has exploded in the past decade, requiring significant modification of the horse transport infrastructure.
That was reinforced by Tom Ryan, director of strategy for the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia. Ryan reported that more than 350 international runners from 16 countries have visited Riyadh since the inauguration of the Saudi Cup (G1). He added a goal is “maximizing international appeal of the Saudi Cup program … We’d love to have horses from Hong Kong and Australia.”
Ryan also touted the JCSA inclusion on its big race day of the Saudi International Handicap, restricted to horses from jurisdictions from the lower rungs of the international registry, many of which are Asian Racing Federation members.
“It gives them a time to shine on the stage of a big day,” he said.
Smaller steps from smaller jurisdictions also had a chance to shine on the conference stage.
New Zealand racing “has been ailing for some years, for various reasons,” said Bruce Sharrock, CEO of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.
Hope came in 2023 through a 25-year partnership agreement with Entain, a wagering and production company. In less than a year, he said, that deal has resulted in a 30% increase in purse money, improved presentation, and an optimized calendar.
That will grow in 2025 with the inaugural running of the NZB Kiwi, a race projected to be the richest in the Southern Hemisphere for 3-year-olds thanks to the sale of starting slots, as with Australia’s The Everest.
“If you have a good 3-year-old Kiwi-bred, we’d love to hear from you,” he said.
South Africa had the brightest smiles as Adrian Todd, managing director of the South Africa Equine Health and Protocols, described the relaxation earlier this year of onerous European union export protocols that virtually excluded his country from the world market for well over a decade.
“It gives me great pleasure to stand here today and say not, ‘We are going to export horses from South Africa,’ but ‘We are exporting horses from South Africa,’ ” he said, predicting the opening of the market will spur investment in the nation’s breeding and racing community.
He noted the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a key player in the Asian Racing Federation, stepped up to help fund the campaign to change the export protocols and added, “We hope that what we’ve achieved can expand to other markets.”
The delegates spent part of the morning session hearing frightening reports on the growth and technological savvy of the illegal gambling market and its erosion of legitimate wagering revenue to horse racing.
“Technology has turbocharged illegal betting,” said James Porteous, research head of the ARF Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime. “Illegals have no restraint on the use of technology.”
Porteous said illegal gambling organizations also operate without paying taxes or paying for regulatory compliance and thus can offer more generous financial returns to gamblers. They also, he said, use technology to attract new customers through a myriad of internet channels, including some targeting young people.
Asked why governments cannot block such websites, he said, “Some can and do … The challenge is, it’s essentially a game of Whac-A-Mole. You block ABCBet.com and every customer is immediately switched over to 123Bet.com. The efficacy of site blocking is open to question.”
None of the experts on the panel, including one from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, offered suggestions for combating the threat. Several suggested racing must use technology to ensure its integrity against threats from would-be fixers operating on the illegal markets.
James Porteous, research head of the Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime, presents at the Asian Racing Conference
