China faces challenges, but early forays fondly remembered

China's sporting bodies may be smarting after finishing below Team GB in the Olympic medals table, but away from the action in Rio a significant event on the horseracing front suggests their influence in matters equine may finally be on the rise.

Last Sunday's four-race card at Yiqi in Inner Mongolia was far from the first to be held in China. Its significance derived from the invitation extended to many international visitors, suggesting that organisers the China Horse Club may be making progress where so many have previously failed to obtain official government approval for the development of racing within China.

The China pony was there at the start of racing in Asia. Walking massive distances down from the grasslands of the north, they provided the population for racing in south China ports such as Hong Kong, Tianjin and Shanghai where in the ‘Roaring Twenties' crowds exceeded 30,000.