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Racing Industry Summit held in Hong Kong for first time since Handover 35th Asian Racing Conference - 5-8 May at HKCEC

05/01/2014

In the Year of the Horse, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is honoured to be hosting the 35th Asian Racing Conference, summit of the world racing industry, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 5-8 May 2014. The Asian Racing Conference (ARC), likened to be the APEC of the racing world, is widely known to be the most important and prestigious event of its type across the world. The most important racing officials, administrators and executives from all over the world gather at this conference to share and showcase the latest developments and discuss the biggest issues in the industry over the four days. World-renowned experts in fields such as the future of wagering on racing, broadcasting technology, breeding, drug control, politics and industry vocational training will ensure that the conference is the marketplace for ideas and further foster the innovation and reform for which the ARC is famous, setting the agenda for the racing industry around the world.

Hong Kong has hosted the Asian Racing Conference twice before, in 1978 and in 1991. As for this year’s conference, it will be the first since Hong Kong’s reunification with the Mainland in 1997. Since the last conference was held in Hong Kong every aspect of the horse racing held in the region and organized by The Hong Kong Jockey Club has been transformed and is widely recognized as being world class. With wagering turnover in Hong Kong being the highest per fixture in the world at over HK$1 billion staked each raceday on average. Five of Hong Kong’s six international races are in the top 50 races in the world (as published by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities), including the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and the Champions Mile. In fact, this year’s Champions Mile will take place at Sha Tin Racecourse the day before the Asian Racing Conference starts (4 May).

The 2014 Asian Racing Conference is set to welcome a record number of delegates, with close to 800 attendees from around the world. It has also attracted many foreign speakers. Representatives in the list of presenters from 15 different business sectors include Mr Michael Lynch, one of the world’s pre-eminent arts administrators; Dr Don Watson, screenwriter of the famous film “The Man Who Sued God”; Mr Scott McLeod, Everton FC Digital Media Manager; Mr Joerg Heise, Managing Director of RIEDEL, the world-recognized pioneers in the field of real-time networks for video and audio and many more. Meanwhile Fox Sports, which is synonymous with excellence in television broadcasting of premium sporting events, will also discuss its cutting edge technology used in sports TV.

The Asian Racing Conference is staged by the Asian Racing Federation (ARF). It was first held in Tokyo back in 1960, and now takes place approximately every 18 months. ARF has been growing to the point where it now has 21 Full Members (Australia, Bahrain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, The Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), 1 Associate Member and 3 Affiliate Members.

About the Asian Racing Federation and the Asian Racing Conference

The Asian Racing Conference takes place every 18 months or so, and is widely considered to be the most important and influential event of its type.

The first Asian Racing Conference was held in 1960 in Tokyo and was attended by 69 delegates drawn from Burma, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaya, The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. From those early days the Asian Racing Conferences expanded rapidly, both in the number of delegates attending and in the size of the geographical area covered. At the 2nd Conference in 1961, Australia, India, New Zealand and Sarawak became official members and the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) has continued to grow ever since, to the point where it now has 21 Full Members, one Associate Member and three Affiliate Members. The 2014 Asian Racing Conference takes place from 5 to 8 May in Hong Kong.

The ARF is formally linked with the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. Australia, Hong Kong and Japan have permanent seats representing the ARF on the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities, and the ARF also nominates one of two rotational positions on the IFHA Executive Council.

Hong Kong has hosted the Asian Racing Conference twice previously, in 1978 and 1991. The 34th Asian Racing Conference took place in Istanbul in 2012; the location of the 36th Conference will be revealed at the closing ceremony of this year’s event.

For more information on the 35th Asian Racing Conference, please visit http://www.archk2014.com/en/index.aspx

Photo 1a£á?2a£á?3<br>To mark the celebration of Hong Kong is hosting the 35th Asian Racing Conference, three life size horse statues are pictured at Hong Kong popular landmark the Golden Bauhinia Square and Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre as background.
Photo 1a£á?2a£á?3
To mark the celebration of Hong Kong is hosting the 35th Asian Racing Conference, three life size horse statues are pictured at Hong Kong popular landmark the Golden Bauhinia Square and Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre as background.



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