Successful 2025/26 racing season in Hong Kong as wagering grows 3.2 per cent, including record overseas betting turnover of HK$34.4 billion
Hong Kong’s total racing wagering turnover climbed 3.2 per cent to HK$143.31 billion (approx. €16 billion) as the 2025/26 racing season came to a close last week.
After the final race of the 2025/26 season at Happy Valley last Wednesday, racing fans had enjoyed 88 race meetings over the season, including seven summer series fixtures, comprising 865 Hong Kong races and 492 overseas simulcast races.
Overall, a total of HK$143.31 billion was wagered, driven primarily by improved field sizes and the continued success of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC)’s globalisation strategy through commingling, simulcasting and the World Pool.
Hong Kong races attracted record commingling turnover of HK$34.4 billion during the season, an 8.3 per cent increase on the 2024/25 season, with 26 countries and more than 60 partners now participating in commingling.
A notable highlight was the Chinese New Year Raceday in February, when commingling turnover surged to HK$523.56 million, setting a new record for a single race meeting and surpassing HK$500 million for a second consecutive year.
Hong Kong fans were able to enjoy more of the world’s finest races this season due to the Hong Kong SAR Government’s approval in June 2025 to progressively add additional simulcasts as a means to combat illegal gambling on overseas racing.
This season, HKJC offered 492 simulcast races, including 99 overseas races that had been included in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA) Top 100 Group 1 at least once in the previous three years, up from 71 in the previous season.
Overall, turnover on simulcasting (including World Pool commingling) increased by 23.5 per cent to HK$16.20 billion.
HKJC confirmed that it is well-advanced in its preparations for the launch of thoroughbred racing at its Conghua Racecourse in Guangzhou from October, although there will be no wagering on Conghua races.
“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,” said HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges. “The highlight of our Year of the Horse celebrations, it will mark the launch of thoroughbred speed racing at Conghua on a regular basis, delivering the same world-class quality as in Hong Kong.
“Through world-class racing, innovative team racing, and special events and carnivals we aim to attract high-end tourism from Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, and overseas. Equine sports will become a key driver in establishing Conghua as a tourist destination, which will stimulate the economy, boost multi-sector consumption across culture, sports, and tourism, advance the development of the equine industry value chain, inject new momentum into regional economic growth, and contribute significantly to economic growth in the Greater Bay Area.”
The Year of the Horse was the best ever for horse racing tourism, with the Club’s two Hong Kong racecourses welcoming a record 401,259 visits from Chinese Mainland and overseas tourists.
This was double the 195,786 tourist visits in the 2024/25 season and quadruple the 93,000 visits in the 2023/24 season.
Major racedays, in particular, set new records. Five racedays each attracted over 10,000 tourists, with the Year of the Horse Raceday on 19 February setting an all-time record of 20,395 tourists.
“It has been a real pleasure to welcome so many tourists from overseas and the Chinese Mainland to our racecourses and to see how much they enjoy the unique quality of our racecourse experience, which is truly like no other,” continued Engelbrecht-Bresges. “Racing tourism is already a top driver of sports tourism and an important pillar of Hong Kong’s tourism development, and in collaboration with our partners in Hong Kong, overseas and the Chinese Mainland we look forward to welcoming many more tourists to our racecourses.”