To Hong Kong, watch horse racing

Author: Wu Ming (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The "Fire in the Stable" Tragedy Claimed 600 Lives in "Happy Valley" – The Joy Brought by the Races Was Not Always Joyful. Don't Even Mention the Inevitable Losses of Gambling and the "Bad Luck" It Brings, or the "Fire in the Stable" Tragedy That Caused Hundreds of Deaths – It Was Truly Heart-Stopping. The Tragedy Occurred on February 26, 1918, the 16th Day of the First Month of the Lunar Calendar. The Event Held That Day Was the "Annual Race." During the Lunar New Year, the Public Naturally Wouldn't Miss This Opportunity to Watch the Races, and Tens of Thousands of Locals Flocked to Huangniyu to Watch the "Foreigners' Horse Races." Small Vendors Also Seized the Opportunity to Set Up Shop Around the Racetrack, Selling Various Trinkets. More People Carried Loads and Set Up Stalls to Sell Snacks. Wonton Noodles, Century Egg Congee, Fish Egg Noodles – Everything Was Available. The Crowd Added to the Firewood, Covering Happy Valley. The Grandstands at the Time Were Made of Bamboo and Wood, Covered with Palm Leaves. Over Time, the Bamboo, Wood, and Palm Leaves Became Dry, Turning the Grandstands into a True Bonfire! Due to the Large Number of Spectators, Everyone Was Fully Focused on the Race, and Their Emotions Fluctuated with the Action, Putting Immense Pressure on the Grandstands. In the Chaos of Cheering and, the Tragedy Finally Occurred. During the Fifth Race, the Grandstand Collapsed Under the Vibrations of Cheers and Encouragement! The Collapsed Structure Crushed Hundreds of Spectators and Many Small Food Stalls at the Bottom and Surrounding the Grandstands! The Firewood Tippled Over, Igniting the Dry Bamboo and Palm Leaves, Turning Happy Valley into a Mountain of Flames. At the Time, Firefighting Equipment and Methods Were Very Outdated. Faced with the Blazing Fire, They Were Almost Powerless, Forced to Watch Many People Struggle in the Flames. The Result Was 614 People Burned to Death on the Spot (Another Source Says At Least 687 People Died)! During the Site Cleanup, Only One Pile of Remains Yielded 72 Human Skeletons. Many Families Also perished in the Fire. For Example, the "Buyer" of the Hong Kong Company, a Mr. Ma, Lost 14 Family Members in This Disaster; Another Partner of the Company, the Ross Family, Also Lost 8 Members. It Is Said That a Family of 10 Relatives of a Li-Surname Official from the Guangdong Military Governor's Office Came to Hong Kong Specifically to Watch the Horse Races but Were Never Seen Again Afterward, Likely Also Affected by the Tragedy. A Large Amount of Gold and Jewelry Was Recovered from the Dead, Including Over 500 Gold and Diamond Rings. The Keys Alone Weighed 8 Kilograms! Four Years Later, Hong Kong Built the "Cemetery for the Dead of the 1918 Stable Fire, Chinese and Westerners" for the Victims of This Tragedy. At the Time, the Grandstands for British and Chinese Spectators Were Separate, and Few Foreigners Died in the Fire; Most Were Chinese. In That "Cemetery for the Dead of Chinese and Westerners," There Were Very Few True "Couples." After That Tragedy, the Grandstands at the Racecourse Abandoned the Bamboo and Wood Era, First Constructing Concrete Grandstands; By 1950, the First Double-Story Permanent Building-Type Grandstand Was Completed.
IV. From Military Exclusivity to Public Racing
Hong Kong's horse racing activities were initially organized by a temporary racing committee. Because the main participants in the early races were British soldiers, who were frequently transferred, and jockeys also changed frequently, the racing committee had to be reorganized every year. This annual "rotation of personnel" continued until 1884. With the economic development of Hong Kong, the scale of horse racing activities also expanded accordingly. In the second half of the 19th century, after various foreign merchants "landed" in Hong Kong, there were no cars, and transportation mainly relied on horses and horse-drawn carriages. Almost every foreign company bought and raised horses, along with those of former British soldiers and Hong Kong government officials. The number of horses in Hong Kong continued to grow, with civilian horses accounting for an increasingly large proportion. Among these ordinary horses, those of military and political officials and wealthy merchants were of the highest quality. Therefore, in the early days of horse racing, it was often the horses of Hong Kong's elite that won the top prizes. According to records, in 1850, the horse of then-Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Harry Parkes, named "Allure," won the championship. In 1853, the horse of the notorious opium dealer, Jardine, named "Golden Finger," won multiple championships. The horse of the boss of Jardine Matheson, "Sik," won the "Lady's Silver Cup" race for several consecutive years. As the number of horses increased, so did the number of racing enthusiasts, with non-military individuals gradually becoming the majority. Compared to the highly mobile military, they were much more stable, laying the foundation for establishing a permanent racing organization. In 1884, the permanent organization responsible for organizing horse racing activities, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, was established. At the time, Hong Kong was under British colonial rule, and this organization bore the distinct mark of colonialism from the very beginning: it only accepted "foreigners" as members and did not allow Chinese to participate. This discriminatory rule was not broken until more than 30 years after the Jockey Club was established. And this breakthrough was closely related to a "rival" Chinese racing association. Under the influence of colonialism, members of the racing association remained exclusively "foreigners" until the 1920s. As the number of Chinese residents in Hong Kong increased, wealthy Chinese merchants and compradors who could afford horses and were interested in participating in races also grew year by year. In 1920, some Chinese merchants and compradors initiated the organization of the Chinese Racing Association and planned to buy land in the Shekkiapu area on Hong Kong Island to build a racetrack, preparing to "stand up to" the British Hong Kong Jockey Club. The outbreak of the 1925 Hong Kong–Guangdong General Strike disrupted the construction plan of the Chinese racetrack. After the end of the strike in 1927, then-Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, adopted a lenient policy, urging the Hong Kong Jockey Club to open its doors to Chinese and admit them as members. Although reluctant, the Jockey Club still followed the governor's advice and began to symbolically admit Chinese members. The first two Chinese members of the Hong Kong Jockey Club were Ho Kam-Tong and Yong Sin-Long, both famous compradors at the time. The separation of Chinese and "foreigners" in the grandstands also ended. Afterward, the association grew larger, and the number of Chinese members also increased. Today, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has over 20,000 members, most of whom are Hong Kongers with considerable social status, and Chinese members account for the vast majority. Like in its early days, even now, the association is very strict about admitting new members. New applicants must be nominated by a selection member, seconded by another selection member, and supported by two other members of the association who are willing to back their application, only then can they be accepted. In the history of Hong Kong horse racing, there was also a period when British people were completely excluded, which was the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from late 1941 to August 1945. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan and Britain became adversaries, and after the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, they expelled all British people from the Jockey Club. It wasn't until the end of World War II that the British regained control of the association. Members of the Jockey Club are divided into three categories: About 200 selection members are elected by the board of directors, and the rest are full members and race members. Full members can use the association's facilities at all times, while race members are only allowed to use related facilities on race days. Currently, full members must pay 1,000 yuan in membership fees per month, and there is also a substantial joining fee, which was tens of thousands of yuan decades ago, but has now risen to 250,000 yuan due to inflation.
V. Horse Racing and Betting Are Not Twins
In today's Hong Kong, horse racing and betting are almost synonymous; but more than a century ago, "racing" and "betting" were two entirely different things. Even in Britain, early horse racing was purely an entertainment activity with no gambling element. However, the first to introduce gambling into racing were the British. Initially, betting was only between jockeys and horse owners. It is said that in the early 19th century, horse racing in Britain was already quite popular. There were two knights, one named Derby and the other named Oaks. Before the mixed-gender horse race, these two proposed to bet. The method of betting was: they each selected a horse they thought would win. After the race, whoever's horse won would name the future annual race after their name. As it happened, Derby's horse won, so the "Derby Cup" race was born, named after his name. Since then, the UK has held an annual mixed-gender "Derby Cup" race, which continues to this day. Hong Kong also copied this model, holding an annual "Derby Cup" race. This was the earliest form of "betting on horse racing," but the bet was not money but "prestige." Gradually, betting extended from "prestige" to "goods," but it was still between jockeys and horse owners, and the "stake" was a bottle of champagne or a meal. "Small bets bring joy" was all it was. This form of betting lasted for several decades. Six years after the establishment of the permanent horse racing organization in Hong Kong – the Hong Kong Jockey Club (hereinafter referred to as the Jockey Club) – Hong Kong began to officially hold horse racing betting activities in 1891. From then on, this entertainment activity acquired a complete gambling meaning, and "horse racing" began to become synonymous with "betting on horse racing." However, due to the lack of social nature at the time, horse racing was basically an upper-class "exclusive" activity, and the amount of betting was not large. Organizing betting on horse racing was a losing business. After paying the winning prize money, there was barely enough left to cover expenses. What to do? The Jockey Club came up with a way to transfer the "burden." They adopted an "outsourcing" model to bid for the organization of horse racing. They thought they could make a big profit, but once they took over, they discovered they had been "tricked." After struggling for a while, they couldn't sustain it and had to withdraw. The Jockey Club then re-bid, and the hopeful bidders still had no way to turn things around and had to withdraw again. This back-and-forth continued, and the Jockey Club maintained it in a sorry state until 1931, when they took it back in-house and introduced a "system innovation" – establishing the "Racing Room" system. Only then did horse racing betting in Hong Kong stabilize. From its inception to its initial establishment on the "right track," Hong Kong's horse racing betting industry took 40 years!