Government pulls the plug on racing in Macau as authorities struggle with huge losses

Racing in Macau, the birthplace of the sport in Asia, will end at the beginning of April after the government confirmed on Monday it would remove the licence allowing a debt-ridden Jockey Club to continue running what was once a significant thoroughbred industry.   

The demise of racing in Macau did not come as a surprise to many, but the timing of the decision did, leaving speculation about whether the industry can be revived.

The sport in Singapore, another once thriving Asian jurisdiction, is also slated to finish on October 5 this year, 16 months after the decision was made by the government to shut down Kranji racecourse, ending 180 years of racing in the island state.

Eight-time champion trainer Gary Moore, who returned to Macau last year to resume his career, declined to comment, having only been informed minutes earlier that his stint at the Jockey Club would be over in a matter of just 11 weeks.

Horse imports to Macau were cancelled last year, leading to diminishing fields and heightening concerns about the long-term future of racing.

Macau is one of the most profitable gambling hubs in the world due to its concentration of casinosCredit: UCG

A former long-time Macau Jockey Club employee, who wished to remain anonymous, blamed ongoing mismanagement of the club over many years for racing’s demise.

They said the Jockey Club’s race meetings could be major Macau tourist attractions but said the lack of promotion meant the majority of visitors did not even know that racing was taking place.

The source said: “It’s a great, great tragedy to lose Singapore, but [to] lose Macau following on . . . There is a long-standing history of racing in Macau for hundreds of years – even the Hong Kong Jockey Club started off in Macau – and this is a result of terrible mismanagement over the years. The last decade of management has been just awful.

“How do you have a racetrack in the middle of the greatest gambling hub in the world [that’s unviable]? Macau is the biggest gambling country in the world – we’re bigger than Las Vegas and we turn over more money than Las Vegas."

André Cheong Weng Chon, the Macau government’s secretary for administration and justice, said the MJC had approached the government last year about relinquishing its contract to operate horseracing at Taipa.

The closure will impact 570 employees of the MJC, while the government says the 290 horses at the club will be moved to mainland China or other countries such as Australia and New Zealand by March 31, 2025.

Cheong claimed horseracing was “a waning industry in Macau, as well as in some neighbouring regions.

“The Macau government has conducted a comprehensive analysis and determined that horseracing operations have not yielded the intended socio-economic benefits,” he said. "Following the expiration of the contract, there will be no further public tendering for the operation.”

Racing has not been able to capitalise on Macau's reputation as a gambling destinationCredit: UCG

Unconditionally, the racecourse site and the club facilities at the MJC will be returned to the government.

The MJC’s director of racing Damian Yap said yesterday’s decision “was always coming”, but he has promised to remain for at least six months after the club’s closure to ensure horses are well cared for before being moved elsewhere.

“I am absolutely gutted,” Yap told ANZ Bloodstock News. “It’s a sad day for racing in general, full stop.”

He added: “Because of all the recent actions that have been taken, like no more horse imports coming into Macau, this was always in the pipeline. The date of April 1 comes as a little bit of a shock, as we thought we could get to the end of the season, but from April we’ll just have to battle on and make sure the horses that are left behind are well looked after.”

The Macau Horse Racing Company’s betting concession contract was initially granted in 1978. The lease was revised and extended in the middle of last year through to August 31, 2042, but the Macau SAR government yesterday rescinded the deal.

The club has been battling increasing financial losses for many years and in 2018 it was threatened with the loss of its contract if it did not repay debt of MOP153 million (£14.9m) to the government. 

The Jockey Club’s financial problems – it recorded a MOP1.9 billion (£185m) loss in 2022 – were exacerbated due to Covid, which brought the gambling mecca of Macau to a standstill.

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