Horse racing is set to make a come-back in China and millions of people are preparing to place the first legal bets since the sport was banned after the Communist revolution in 1949.

The Government has approved regular racing in central China and is considering allowing gambling on the races in 2009 on a trial basis, the official Xinhua news agency said yesterday.

The eagerness among Chinese for the chance to gamble on the horses is not in doubt. It is rumoured that £43 billion of Chinese money flows abroad illegally each year on gambling. No one knows for sure because betting is banned. Twice in the past decade Chinese cities have tried, and failed, to establish a racecourse.

The central city of Wuhan, home to three racecourses before 1949, has won approval from the central Government in Beijing to revive the sport in September, after the Olympic Games. The Orient Lucky City racecourse, set in a huge lakeside complex, was deemed to meet necessary standards.

China closed down racing in the southern city of Guangzhou, across the border from Hong Kong, in 1999 after a seven-year experiment that was deemed unsatisfactory because it proved impossible to prevent Chinese from placing bets on the outcome.

The Beijing Tongshun Jockey Club, which opened in August 2002, fared little better. Betting was not allowed but racegoers could buy expensive entry tickets that enabled them to take part in an elaborate “guessing game” involving vouchers for each runner. Cash winnings were paid out. The scheme came unstuck when some punters who lost money complained to the police that gambling was taking place at the course. Faced with formal reports, the police had to investigate what was an open secret. The course was ordered to close in late 2005 and its 3,500 horses were put out to grass.

Now, however, the State Sports General Administration has permitted a “horse racing lottery” in Wuhan from September. Qin Zunwen, head of the Chinese Horse Racing Intelligence Competition Research Group, said that reintroducing betting would boost state revenue, create new jobs, entertain the public and crack down on illegal gambling. A senior manager with the Orient Lucky Horse Group Corporation said that betting would probably not be introduced on a trial basis until next year.

He said: “Initially about 250 horses from different jockey clubs around the country will participate in the races. But betting can only be officially launched when the races draw at least 2,000 horses.”

Given the Chinese passion for horses and gambling, it may not take long to reach those numbers. The tote at the Jockey Club in Hong Kong can reach nearly £8 billion a year. The Jockey Club’s book of rules will be adopted by China’s new racing industry to give it a proper framework.

Lu Zhifang, a construction magnate, is one of a new breed of Chinese devoted to horses, and who would form a core of rich racegoers. He is breeding thoroughbred horses in the shadow of his giant factory on the edge of Beijing and wants to rear horses of an international standard.

He showed off six fillies descended from Northern Dancer, the Canadian-born champion who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 1964 and became the most successful sire of the 20th century. Mr Lu brought back three stallions from Germany and sent off two to the rugged Western Xinjiang region to breed with the local Yili horse, a Russian-Mongolian cross.

In his paddock he ran a hand over the mane of a gangly newborn foal. “Look at those legs. Is there anything more beautiful than the fine bones of an English thoroughbred?”

Rank outsiders

— The Chinese Communist Party banned horse racing in China in 1949, converting the once-bustling Shanghai racetrack into a public park

— Horse racing was still permitted in Dutch-administered Macau and British Hong Kong, however. When control of these territories passed to the Chinese Government it continued, attracting gamblers from mainland China

— The Macau Jockey Club has more than 10,000 members, who pay admission fees of up to £12,000 each. It offers racing at all distances on sand and turf and is now one of the territory’s largest private employers, with 19,000 staff, including 600 stable hands

— Macau’s year-round racing season holds up to 111 race meetings annually, with prizes as large as HK$680,000 (£44,500). About 40,000 telephone betters, many from mainland China, hold accounts and winnings are transferred directly to their bank accounts

— The Hong Kong Jockey Club is one of the oldest institutions in the territory and offers betting on international sporting events as well as races. It has more than 20,000 members and is Hong Kong’s largest private donor to charity, as well as paying more than £650 million in betting duty annually

Sources: Hong Kong and Macau Jockey Clubs; Times archives

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