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Whenever the chance occurs, to this day I continue to pop the question to the local people of Beijing, wealthy and poor, "do you think gambling will ever be legalised in mainland China?" So far, they've all said no. All I can think about is.....'what about the horses?'
Closing the Door
On closure of the Beijing jockey club,
sadly many horses were put down and most of the trainers (all western) no longer had employment, going back to their homes, which for many, no longer existed, a few even took the gamble and stayed in Beijing to only take up longer nights of karaoke, golf and other jobs which are few and far between for a westerner looking for a decent wage. Only a few trainers were kept on at the jockey club, only to become bored with the emptyness that filled their days and their spirits lowered at seeing undernourished horses day by day walking around with their heads lowered, as one trainer said, he hated going to the stables, it was like a morgue; he left and went to Dubai. A sleeping giant which once flourished now lay dorment. Beautiful horses were taken to their death, many of which were broken down or too weak, which was only a fair call, but as time went by, due to the lack of knowledgeable horsemen, there were many horses that could have survived. Today
To this day, the jockey club still lays idle, with minimal staff, 2 trainers and a vet to keep the place simmering. Horses continue to be bred, broken in and walked, but not to a very good standard. Feed rations are kept to a minimum whereby undernourishment is now a common sight. The local jockeys who had trained so hard were also let down, and some of them moved to other non-professional jockey clubs where their hopes and dreams would only fall from lack of further professional training. I am happy to say though, that one jockey is successfully riding work in Australia and another is gaining recognition from trial rides in Cambridge, New Zealand. It is reported that Z.C. Wei is close to gaining his race-riding license which makes him the first ever mainland Chinese person to be granted a professional license to ride overseas (Go Blackie!). With the language problem, it wasn't easy for them and they had to work hard on learning the English language from scratch and going through the rigorous visa process, I believe this is Blackies problem at the moment. With the amount of disposable income just in Beijing alone, and the potential that legal gambling carrys, it is a big shame what happened to the jockey club, but, who is to say that betting will never happen. How Horseracing changed the People
To the local people, particulary the underpriveledged, animals of any description are only thought of as a main meal and as far as pamparing an animal is concerned, it just isn't heard of. Over time, I noticed a significant transformation in their attitude towards the well-being of the horses whereby some of the staff were taking a great interest in and genuinely cared for them. Soon, when racing started, they were hooked and loved racing and had found something that they were passionate about. Horseracing added so much life to their own lives which before had only been a mere existence, a true struggle to survive. The stablehands of BJC were not only happy, but they werelucky, they were educated on the basic care of a horse, some were even learning to speak English, and some of them showed good skills that would warrant a job overseas. Their personal appearance had jumped from wearing old baggy clothes to dress suits on a Saturday and more presentable clothes during the week, and being in the public eye of the more wealthy, they held their heads higher. The change was never going to happen suddenly and it took a long time, but, with this, came a unique individual that had changed for the better and had acquired skills that would never have been within reach had it not been for the trainers of BJC.
The Prospect of Gambling
There is now talk of gambling being granted in 4 cities after the Olympics, (which makes more sense). This political decision will not come easy and with such a large population, in order to cope with the problems that will arise with betting, corruption and violence caused by uneducated gamblers looking for a quick earn, there will have to be solutions to fix the problems. Control and good management, which never existed before, are the key words here. Additionally, the government can see the potential revenue windfalls
from additional organised gambling in terms of licensing operators
and collecting tax revenues from ticket sales for various social and
sporting causes. Furthermore, in a largely cash orientated market it is
an ideal form of parting consumers from their cash and allow for
greater circulation of cash in the economy as the richer are increasingly becoming richer, I see it everyday.
Finally, the government’s future strategy for lotteries and organised
gambling in China remains unclear. However, there have been
intimations from Beijing that it is considering liberalising the market
somewhat to permit additional lotteries as well as the possibility of
horse racing and casinos, however, the government still remains shy of gambling on horseracing. After living in China for many years and deeply experiencing the local culture, organized gambling is a consumer demand and the figures are proving it. As long as managers and officials work together, I feel when the time is right, the pressure will be on and it could very well happen, but when, is the question.
Clink on the link Guangzhou Jockey Club,
.. to view a story and some interesting photographs from the Guangzhou Jockey Club, from the 1980's. At the bottom of the first page, go to the next page and then you can access photos from there. I had the pleasure of taking horses to Guangzhou for the first ever T.B horse sale. The racetrack which was set in the midst of the city looked fantastic, and despite showing signs of ageing, the grandstand was superb, I could almost feel the crowds around me as I walked up into the lounge area, I could have been at Randwick, Newmarket or anywhere for that matter.
A bit of History
Indeed, lotteries, in the form of what is now called Keno, was first
played in China 3,000 years ago to fund the building of the Great
Wall. The first recorded lottery in Chinese history dates back to the
Tang Dynasty and lotteries continued to occur sporadically until
1886 when the Chinese government decided that lotteries were
similar to robbery and prostitution and banned them. However,
gambling continued throughout the country on a small scale and
casinos flourished in Shanghai.
The success of Macau in attracting large numbers of Mainland
Chinese to its casinos is one piece of evidence of the potential
market. Menu:
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Outback Beijing.
Horse Racing in Beijing.
Life in the Village.
Winter In Beijing.