Jockey Club Horse Transport Team is Ready To Roll

17 July 2008

The Hong Kong Jockey Club today trotted out its tried and true horse transportation system during a media tour, demonstrating how it will safely and efficiently whisk Olympic equines to and from their competitions in three weeks. 

Some 60 local and international journalists surveyed the Club's specialized horse transport fleet, which includes about one dozen air-conditioned lorries for horses and grooms, five horse ambulances, a veterinary van and other support vehicles. The Club developed and fine-tuned its vehicle and equipment checklist and logistics for horse transport during its decades of carrying racehorses around Hong Kong. 

"I'm proud and happy to be helping the first-ever Olympics in Hong Kong and China," said Club Administration Manager Vincent Wong, who is overseeing horse transportation during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Wong, who has worked at the Jockey Club for 22 years, added, "Because we've been transporting valuable horses to, from and between the airport, stables and racecourses for so many racing seasons, we have a seamless system in place. I'm glad that our expertise will be called upon in August and September."

The sprawling horse lorries are outfitted with the horses' safety and comfort in mind. A lorry can accommodate nine racehorses. But to provide the equestrian horses more space, each lorry will carry a maximum of six Olympic or Paralympic horses. Rubber lining the trailer's walls, floor and kick board protect the horses from injury, and a waste trough keeps the compartment tidy. Grooms, who sit in the trailer, can comfort and attend to the horses if needed, and have an alarm bell or intercom with which to communicate with the driver.

On every trip, accompanying the lorries of horses and grooms are a lead car, at least one horse ambulance, a veterinary van equipped with first aid supplies, tools and ice, and a maintenance car for any on-scene vehicle repairs, all from the Jockey Club. During the Games, a Police Department motorcade will escort the Club's fleet.

The Olympic horses will begin arriving in Hong Kong at the end of this month.  All of the Club's horse transport drivers and vehicles have successfully completed four test runs set up by the Equestrian Company and the Hong Kong Police Department. Two more route tests, which start at the Hong Kong International Airport, go to the Olympic equestrian venue at Sha Tin and then to the venue at Beas River, will be conducted before the Olympic Games' opening on 8 August. The Club has also done final safety checks on all of its horse transport vehicles.

"We're ready and waiting for the Olympic horses," Wong said.