Princess Haya Visits The Club's Racing Laboratory

16 August 2008

HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, President of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), took time out of her busy Olympic schedule to visit the Club's Racing Laboratory this afternoon.

Dr Terence Wan, Head of the Racing Laboratory, showed the state-of-the-art facilities to the Princess and a group of senior FEI delegates.

"We are so lucky to have such a long-standing collaboration between the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Racing Laboratory and the FEI", HRH Princess Haya said after the visit. "It has given us a great opportunity to have a wonderful partnership between racing and equestrian sport and this facility has also given us the opportunity to introduce Post-Arrival Elective Testing for the first time at the Olympics."

Accompanying the Princess on the tour of the Laboratory were the FEI's First Vice-President Sven Holmberg, Second Vice-President Chris Hodson, Deputy Chairman of the FEI Tribunal Erik Elstad, Secretary General Alex McLin, Director of Sports David Holmes and Mikael Rentsch of the Federation's Legal Department.

The Club's Racing Laboratory, which is one of only four FEI Reference Laboratories in the world, is the first-ever on-site testing facility for the Olympic equestrian events. Samples taken from the Olympic horses are being tested at the Racing Laboratory for evidence of prohibited substances. Dr Wan and his staff have been working round the clock, particularly with the introduction of Post-Arrival Elective Testing, and the FEI visit was a great morale booster for everyone.