GATHERING SPEED
After a long period of uncertainty, horse racing seems to be hitting its stride in China. reports from Ordos, Inner Mongolia.
Wang Kaihao
When British equine industry veteran John Warren joined the advisory council of the China Horse Club in 2013, he faced plenty of doubts from his countrymen.
Even he once wondered whether the eagerness to develop the thoroughbred race industry in the Chinese mainland would “last for five minutes and disappear”.
But Warren, who made his reputation as the bloodstock and racing adviser for Queen Elizabeth II and a member of the Jockey Club in Britain, now realizes how serious China’s long-term commitment is.
“China is obviously new in modern-day terms, and as a consequence, everything has to be unlocked. And, things will develop … when interested people with different types of expertise get involved,” he tells China Daily in Ordos, a city in the southwest of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
“I’ve seen changes in the past three years, but I still think it’s the very beginning.”
Sunday saw the China Equine Cultural Festival staged in Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos. It comprised four races with more than 30 thoroughbreds. The top prize for a single race reached 1 million yuan ($150,000).
Some of the competitors were selected from the 81 thoroughbreds that arrived in Ordos from New Zealand in July.
The festival was launched by the China Horse Club in 2013 in Hohhot, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
This was the fifth edition of the event, which has been held on an irregular basis.
And it was the first time that the festival has returned to Inner Mongolia.
In the Chinese mainland where thoroughbred racing has only been revived in recent years, knowledge of the sport is almost nonexistent, but the festival is changing things.
Sunday’s race attracted about 1.4 million viewers via domestic live-stream websites.
Speaking of the event, Teo Ah Khing, a Chinese-Malaysian entrepreneur who founded the China Horse Club, says: “Our plan was always to move the CECF to different parts of China for the first few years to educate people.
“However, we have also been looking to set up a permanent base where we can host more regular racing events.”
So, the racecourse in Ejin Horo Banner has been chosen to achieve Teo’s goal.
Breeding hub
The race day also reveals the bigger role that Ordos may play in the future.
At the festival, it was announced that Singaporebased Desert Star Holding Limited, also owned by Teo, would cooperate with Yitai Group, a coal-mining colossus in Ordos, to establish possibly one of China’s biggest thoroughbred breeding centers.
According to Li Chengcai, a board member running the center, the project costing 7 to 8 billion yuan is to cover more than 1,600 hectares, and will be completed in eight years in four phrases.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 thoroughbreds will be bred at the center after all the facilities are set up.
Giving more details on the center, Teo says: “The latitude of the area is also important. Ordos is on a similar latitude as breeding centers in Japan and America.”
He adds that Ordos, which is in the middle of grasslands, also has perfect natural conditions to be a breeding hub. There is also the cultural affinity for horsemanship among local Mongolian ethnic communities.
Teo says the project can generate $2 billion in direct economic benefits and up to $8 billion in indirect benefits over the next decade.
Supporting Teo, Warren says that the breeding industry has big employment possibilities, adding: “Not everyone today is academically educated in a digital world, and there are people looking for alternative careers.”
Li also supports the employment line, saying that each horse will create five job opportunities for the local community in areas like growing forage grass, the auction of stallions, hygiene facilities, import and export.
“Every sector in the industry chain will create revenue for local economy,” he says.
Giving his take on the center, Elliott Walden, president of WinStar Farm based in Kentucky, tells China Daily: “Most startups don’t have good facilities like this.
“But the key challenge will be to keep getting better horses all the time. That was what Japan did for more than 20 years. ”
The 81 thoroughbreds from New Zealand at the festival will probably be the first residents of the new breeding center.
Meanwhile, Warren says that the Ordos festival shows decision-makers what can be done even by a small organization.
“If the government embraces this, it could potentially become a very well-organized machine.”
So far, in the Chinese mainland, the authorities’ attitude to horse racing has been lukewarm as officials were worried that it could be linked to betting, but Teo says that a good race system does not necessarily promote betting.
Warren, who agrees with this view, says: “China should have its own style. So, don’t copy.
“The environment dictates the style. So, you have to operate according to your environment.”
He says that China needs to learn by bringing in experts from all over the world to impart their knowledge so the industry here doesn’t lose time and avoids “bringing in the wrong blood”.
He is also convinced that when a racing boom happens here, it will happen very fast.
Contact the writer at wangkaihao@ chinadaily.com.cn