Breeding & Racing Magazine

Back To the Future for HKJC

Following Sunday's Sh Tin meeting where Zac Purton opened up a 4-win lead over Joao Moreira, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has announced the forthcoming return of a bet-type not witnessed in the territory since the 1970s. According to scmp.com, the continuing focus on commingling of betting pools, which has assumed even more relevance since the onset of COVID-19, has provided the impetus to reintroduce the forecast, effectively the exacta as its known in Australia. Despite local turnover in Hong Kong taking a hit during coronavirus, the mixing of international pools has been "a shining light", and HKJC chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges wants to tap into the popularity of the forecast with global punters, albeit the bet type failed to gain ytraction in Hong Kong when last available. The possible addition of the new bet type, which Engelbrecht-Bresges believes will be popular with English and Australian punters, follows a HK$37 million spike in turnover on Sunday versus the same meeting in 2019.