Hong Kong Jockey Club delegates at the 34th Asian Racing Conference have delivered a number of key presentations and led core discussions throughout the first three days of the event in Istanbul, Turkey, which commenced on 17 July and concludes tomorrow (20 July).
Mr Richard Cheung, the Club’s Executive Director, Customer and Marketing, delivered a focal message to the conference during this morning’s (19 July) Plenary Session entitled Happy Wednesday: Racing as Trendy Entertainment, in which he detailed the Club’s strategy to revitalize racing and repackage it as social entertainment, with the Happy Wednesday Brand a central feature.
“Since the Hong Kong Jockey Club created the Happy Wednesday Brand back in the 2008/09 season, Happy Valley Racecourse has been transformed into a fashionable venue where the city’s young professionals go on a Wednesday night to see and be seen,” said Mr Cheung.
“Whilst retaining the fundamental essence of the track for its established clientele, the Happy Wednesday Brand caters to the young consumer, melding live music attractions in the popular informal beer garden alongside the racecourse’s new slick, tech-driven restaurant/bar venues, adrenaline and The Gallery,” explained Mr Cheung. “This new way is based on our extensive customer research and has been acknowledged outside of racing, with the Happy Wednesday Brand recently receiving a notable award as the most successful sports marketing campaign in Hong Kong.”
Mr Cheung went on to discuss how the Club is addressing ways to take the success of its attendance drive and advance the customer experience a stage further so that the consumer becomes a pro-active and positive participator in racing.
The previous afternoon (18 July), the Club’s Head of Racing Laboratory Dr Terence Wan shared his expert analysis during his presentation on Recent Developments Regarding the International Harmonisation on the Control of the Use of Therapeutic Substances.
Dr Wan emphasised that the recent introduction of International Screening Limits for controlling the use and safe withdrawal of therapeutic substances before racing is a major step towards improving consistency in medication control among different countries, and will facilitate the globalisation of horseracing.
Meanwhile, HKJC Chief Stipendiary Steward Kim Kelly yesterday afternoon joined fellow leading experts, among them France’s Trainers Association President Criquette Head-Maarek and Ray Murrihy, Chairman of Stewards at Racing New South Wales, for a panel discussion considering Interference Rules – Can the World Achieve One Standard?
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Richard Cheung, Executive Director, Customer and Marketing of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, delivers a speech in a plenary session of the 34th Asian Racing Conference in Istanbul, Turkey.
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