This has been a year of considerable achievement for the Club both on and off the track. On the track Hong Kong horses triumphed in Australia, Dubai and Japan and won six out of seven Group 1 races in our two home international racing carnivals. Off the track we launched the Institute of Philanthropy (IoP) and we contributed a record HK$40.1 billion to the community, comprising HK$29.9 billion in betting duty, profits tax and Lotteries Fund contributions and a record HK$10.2 billion in approved charity donations. The latter comprised HK$6.7 billion in regular donations and HK$3.5 billion to the IoP.

The 2023/24 season was a vintage one for Hong Kong racing. Romantic Warrior became the first Hong Kong horse to win the W.S. Cox Plate in Australia, while in Japan he followed in the footsteps of Fairy King Prawn and Bullish Luck to take the Yasuda Kinen. Together with victories in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup and the FWD QEII Cup he wrote a new chapter in Hong Kong racing history. In Dubai, California Spangle’s win in the Al Quoz Sprint established him as one of Hong Kong’s racing stars, while our international carnivals, the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races and FWD Champions Day, saw Hong Kong horses win six out of seven Group 1 races against top global talent. Meanwhile, Vincent Ho became the first home-grown jockey to win the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship. To cap it all, all 12 of Hong Kong’s international Group 1 races featured in the LONGINES World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races for the very first time.