HKJC Turns Guangzhou Pact Into Broader Racing Play
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, formalising its cross-border racing plans in the Greater Bay Area. The deal, signed on 17 March, ties horse racing more closely to tourism, culture and sport, with Conghua Racecourse taking a bigger role on the mainland side.
At the heart of the agreement is the “Two Cities, Three Racecourses” model. It links Happy Valley and Sha Tin in Hong Kong with Conghua in Guangzhou, giving HKJC a clearer way to present racing as a joint regional offer instead of three separate assets.
The practical work is split into four areas: policy coordination, joint promotion, tourism product development and wider industry support. Guangzhou will fold horse racing into its tourism and cultural planning, while HKJC brings the operating knowledge needed to make the model work on the ground.
Conghua is the part of the story that matters most commercially. International-standard racing is due to begin there in October 2026, and the site is expected to host more than race meetings alone. HKJC and Guangzhou are also looking at related cultural and tourism events, which gives the venue a job beyond race day.
That matters because the deal is also built around travel. Both sides want to package the three racecourses into “one-trip, multi-stop” itineraries that pull visitors across Hong Kong and Guangzhou rather than keeping them in a single city. That opens the door to a broader spend profile tied to racing, hospitality and short-stay tourism.
The memorandum also pushes promotion across online and offline channels and includes work with media and institutions tied to equine development. In practice, that gives the project a longer runway. It is not only about filling the calendar at Conghua this year, but about building a more permanent cross-border racing business around it.
This latest agreement follows earlier cooperation between HKJC and Guangzhou, but it pushes the relationship into a more operational phase. With Conghua expected to join the racing schedule later this year, the focus now shifts from planning to delivery.
TGJ Take
This is a partnership story, but the business angle sits in how HKJC packages racing for movement across borders. If Conghua can hold regular fixtures from October and attract enough visitor traffic, HKJC gets more than a third racecourse. It gets a usable template for turning racing into a wider travel product in Asia. Suppliers tied to events, hospitality and race-day services should pay attention first.
