'Illegal wagering is rampant' - Hong Kong Jockey Club chief in stark warning over 'exponential' black market growth

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Black market betting is “rampant” on an international scale and domestic gambling regulators need to think globally to tackle it, a major racing conference was warned on Tuesday.

Hong Kong Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, speaking during the 41st Asian Racing Conference in Riyadh, urged racing authorities to hammer home to their governments that focusing on tackling illegal betting in their own countries alone would fail to yield a noticeable downturn.

He said: “Illegal wagering is rampant; its growth is exponential. Illegal bookmakers offer better prices, they give credit and crypto, which makes tracking money laundering difficult.

“The regulators are looking at this nationally but they need to see the international component. So it is a case of coming together to change views.”

This month a new illegal betting taskforce was launched in Britain in an attempt to stem the growing black market. But Engelbrecht-Bresges cited affordability checks brought in as part of the gambling white paper in 2023 as a prime example of policies that have boosted the appeal of the unregulated market.

“In the UK, affordability checks have created a massive incentive to go offshore,” he said. “So now we are making an effort to make these authorities see what we see.

“We have a huge challenge from the illegal market. Regulators have to approach the challenge globally and not just locally, otherwise it will not make a difference.”

The Asian Racing Conference, which runs until Thursday, is seeking to not only tackle illegal betting but address the issues of falling foal crops and finding ways to engage new fans.

• The Asian Racing Conference in Riyadh: what is it, why is it important, and what are the key people saying? 

Engelbrecht-Bresges said it was “a concern as an industry that we are not growing” in terms of the number of horses produced and that this was happening at the same time as an expanding stakes programme, meaning the “top horses can avoid each other” too easily.

Younger generations were seeking “instant gratification”, Engelbrecht-Bresges added, and horseracing betting was falling behind emerging trends.

“If you promote only wagering, especially to a younger generation, you have no chance," he said. "Because they have gaming – instant gratification, so we have to first really promote our sport.”    

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