The high integrity that The Hong Kong Jockey Club has always emphasised in its business operations provided a fitting backdrop to the inaugural Racing and Betting Security & Integrity Conference hosted by the Club during the recent Longines Hong Kong International Races, which gave Club representatives an opportunity to exchange ideas and information with their counterparts from racing and betting organisations worldwide.
With the theme of Creating an Integrity Culture, the two-day international conference attracted participants from racing organisations of Australia, Japan, Korea, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia and the UK (photo 1).
The Club's Executive Director of Racing William Nader (photo 2) emphasised to delegates the vital nature of integrity for sports betting organisations. "The importance of integrity is not just to ensure the fairness of the competition so that every participant has a fair chance, but also the fairness of the bets so that every wager has a fair opportunity," he observed.
Director of Security and Integrity Martin Purbrick (photo 3), shared the same belief, stressing that the business of an organisation relied completely on integrity. "It is critical for the success of what we do in both the sports and the business side of the betting," he said. "If the regulators of other sports don't do something about the major corruption issues in football, in tennis, etc., I think eventually we'll lose a generation of confidence in the integrity of those sports."
Integrity has always been a core value of the Club and one of the elements for its success. Maintaining high integrity ensures that the Club’s status and high standards of service are recognised by local citizens and the sports betting business worldwide. An Integrity Management Guideline was issued to management and staff this September to encourage all staff members to keep alert and observe the importance of integrity. Furthermore, talks on the subject will be held next February to enhance the staff’s understanding of integrity and teach them ways to tackle related issues.
The Club’s racing operations are especially well recognised as embodying high integrity. On the racing side, every detail in every race – before, during and after every meeting – is closely monitored by a team of Racing Stewards to ensure that the Rules of Racing are observed and the races run according to the highest professional standards. A fully integrated video camera patrol system provides instant replays of every part of each race to assist the team's work.
The Veterinary Department is also well equipped and the health of the horses closely monitored. All horses are carefully checked before they participate in races. The Club's Racing Laboratory plays another crucial role in ensuring the integrity of racing. Equipped with the very latest technology, it has earned numerous awards and is one of only four International Equestrian Federation (FEI) regional reference laboratories in the world.
Tours of the Club’s facilities were arranged for attendees of the conference, led by Head of Broadcasting Services Oonagh Chan and Head of Veterinary Clinical Services Christopher Riggs who took delegates around their departments' facilities
The conference attendees all showed their concern that integrity was a worldwide issue in the sports betting business, recognising that organisations all round the world has to work hand in hand to combat illegal and offshore betting.
Other distinguished professionals from Hong Kong and international racing and betting organisations who were speakers at the conference included Sal Perna, Racing Integrity Commissioner of Victoria, Australia; Paul Scotney, Director of Integrity Services, Compliance & Licensing for the British Horseracing Authority; Dayle Brown, General Manager, Integrity Services for Racing Victoria, Australia; Chris Eaton from the International Centre for Sport Security; and Tom Phillipson, Chief Inspector from the Criminal Intelligence Bureau of Hong Kong Police.
The Club believes the conference will further convey the message of building together a business culture and operations of high integrity. It is proud to share its experience and ideas with sports racing organisations from other parts of the world, all of which have shown strong desire and determination to uphold the industry’s integrity, advocating the importance of integrity in the business of sports betting to provide a fair betting environment to every customer.
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The Club's Executive Director of Racing William Nader
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Director of Security and Integrity Martin Purbrick
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