The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) recorded HKD34.4 billion ($4.4billion) in overseas commingling betting turnover during the 2025/26 racing season, helping drive total racing wagering turnover up 3.2 per cent year-on-year to HKD143.31 billion ($18.3 billion).
The results, announced on Friday after the season concluded at Happy Valley on 15 July, mark a return to growth as the HKJC expanded its international wagering strategy through commingling, simulcasting and the World Pool. Across the season, fans watched 88 race meetings comprising 865 Hong Kong races and 492 overseas simulcast races.
Hong Kong races attracted record commingling turnover, with 26 countries and more than 60 international partners now participating. During the Chinese New Year Raceday in February, commingling turnover reached a record HKD523.56 million ($66.7 million), surpassing HKD500 million ($63.8 million) for a second consecutive year.
Meanwhile, turnover from simulcasting, including World Pool commingling, increased 23.5 per cent to HKD16.20 billion ($2 billion), while commingling into overseas World Pool races rose 27.7 per cent. The number of World Pool races also expanded from 296 to 397.
The HKJC said next season it will further expand simulcasts to cover most races included in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ World’s Top 100 Group/Grade 1 races, strengthening efforts to combat illegal betting while reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a global horse racing hub.
The expansion follows the Hong Kong SAR Government’s approval in June 2025 to progressively increase overseas race simulcasts as part of measures against illegal gambling.
The strategy also follows Hong Kong’s suspension of the planned rollout of regulated basketball betting in April 2026. Officials said the delay reflected concerns over the rapid growth of blockchain-based prediction markets and illegal betting, while maintaining that regulated gambling should channel existing demand rather than encourage new participation.
Champion horses strengthen Hong Kong’s global standing
The season was headlined by Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior, whose combined 10 Group 1 victories placed them among the world’s highest-rated racehorses. Ka Ying Rising finished the season as joint world number one in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings with a rating of 131, while Romantic Warrior ranked equal third on 126.
“This has been an outstanding season, and we really could not have wished for anything more in terms of equine excellence, especially in the Year of the Horse,” Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, HKJC CEO, said. “Hong Kong’s titans, Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior, have elevated Hong Kong racing to an unprecedented level.”
According to the HKJC, Hong Kong-trained horses won 12 of the world’s leading Group 1 races during the season, while 11 of the city’s 12 elite races featured in the 2025 LONGINES World’s Top 100 Group 1 races.
Ka Ying Rising became the first overseas-trained horse to win Australia’s Everest and extended his winning streak to 20 races, breaking multiple Sha Tin track records. Romantic Warrior won a fourth consecutive LONGINES Hong Kong Cup and became only the third horse to complete Hong Kong’s Triple Crown, taking his career earnings beyond HKD288 million ($36.7 million). The pair were jointly named Hong Kong Champion Horse.
Conghua racecourse to open in October
The HKJC also confirmed that racing at its new Conghua Racecourse in Guangzhou will begin on 31 October 2026, creating a “Two Cities, Three Racecourses” model alongside Sha Tin and Happy Valley.
Operational trials are underway ahead of the opening meeting, although wagering will not be offered on races at Conghua.
“The milestone race meeting in Conghua Racecourse on 31 October will make a powerful statement to the world, underlining that Conghua is not only a state-of-the-art training centre but a racecourse capable of staging world-class racing in the Chinese Mainland,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
Tourism reaches record high
The HKJC also reported record horse racing tourism, with its two Hong Kong racecourses welcoming 401,259 visitors from mainland China and overseas during the season, more than double the previous year’s total.
Five racedays attracted more than 10,000 tourists, including a record 20,395 visitors during the Year of the Horse Raceday on 19 February.
The club said it will increase prize money for the Hong Kong Classic Mile, Hong Kong Classic Cup and Hong Kong Derby next season as it prepares to launch racing at Conghua.
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