Jockey Club launches 'Horses Across Hong Kong'
Statues incorporating artistic and Olympic elements

2 March 2008

The Hong Kong Jockey Club launched its 'Horses Across Hong Kong' campaign today (2 March) aimed at spreading the message of Hong Kong's co-hosting of the Beijing Olympic equestrian events to every corner of the community.  The Club has worked on the campaign with a number of government departments, culminating in today's launch ceremony in the Parade Ring at Sha Tin Racecourse.

The campaign features 18 life-sized horse statues incorporating elements of art, sports and the community, as well as exhibiting graceful equestrian movements.  The horse statues will now be delivered to different locations in the 18 districts.

Officiating at the ceremony, Jockey Club Chairman Mr John Chan said by presenting the horse statues to residents of the 18 districts, the campaign would further promote the Olympic atmosphere in Hong Kong.

"These statues will be displayed in public in all the districts as landmarks to commemorate Hong Kong's role as an Olympic co-host city, enabling all citizens and visitors from around the world to share our joy in staging the Olympic equestrian events." Mr Chan added.

As an officiating guest at the ceremony, Mrs Carrie Yau, Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, acknowledged the Club's efforts in promoting the Olympics. "I would like to take the opportunity to thank The Hong Kong Jockey Club for its dedicated efforts in arranging the world-class venues for the equestrian events and all the District Councils for their relentless support in making this community engagement activity a great success, and their efforts in organizing various promotional activities in their districts to promote the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games."

A mock cauldron was lit at the launch ceremony by all seven officiating guests, the Club's Chairman Mr John Chan and Chief Executive Officer Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges; Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Mrs Carrie Yau; President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Mr Timothy Fok; Chief Executive Officer of the Equestrian Company Mr Lam Woon-kwong; President of the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation Mr Simon Ip and Chairman of the Hong Kong Paralympics Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled Mrs Jenny Fung.  The mock cauldron lighting ceremony served to symbolise the spreading of the Olympic spirit to every corner of the community with the delivery of the horse statues.

The original 'Horses Across Hong Kong' concept started when the Club invited a group of 18 local artists from the Hong Kong Visual Arts Society to each design a horse statue. The artists first created sketches in different artistic styles and then drew the designs on life-sized horse statues, vividly capturing the beauty of equestrian movement. Danny Lee, Chairman of the Hong Kong Visual Arts Society, and some of the artists responsible for the statue designs also attended the ceremony.

The Chairmen or representatives of the 18 District Councils unveiled the horse statues for their respective districts in the ceremony. The statues will now be displayed at landmarks and scenic spots in the districts to commemorate Hong Kong's role as an Olympic co-host city. After the launch ceremony, a special fashion show was staged with models wearing casual clothing inspired by the horse statue designs.

All attending guests received a set of postcards featuring Hong Kong's Olympic equestrian venues along with a set of horse statue stickers, kicking off a range of related activities.  The public can now vote for the 'most community featured design', the 'most Olympic spirit injected design' and 'my favourite design' from the 18 horse statues on the Club website. The first 100 participants to cast a vote will receive a special gift.

The Club has also jointly organised a horse statue design competition with the Hong Kong Youth Cultural and Arts Competitions. The response has been overwhelming, with thousands of entries received in the three categories for primary, secondary and tertiary students. The students were asked to design a horse statue pattern with themes touching on the Olympics, Hong Kong spirit and Hong Kong as the Equine Capital. Entries have now closed and the competition is currently judging stage. The winning design of each category will be painted on a horse statue for public exhibition.