Since announcing that it will no longer operate horse racing activities after 1 April this year, the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) and horse owners have been engaged in a series of discussions over the issue of compensation. According to sources, the latest reply from the MJC maintains that it still won’t pay any compensation. A horse owner has told Inside Asian Gaming that this response is “unacceptable”.
To date, the MJC has only committed to providing horse owners with a “horse transportation subsidy” which would subsidize horse owners who are willing to transport their horses overseas or to China with a maximum amount of HK$200,000 and HK$30,000 respectively.
The Macau Horse Owners Group has issued a number of open letters over the past few days to the Macau SAR Government, to the Chief Executive of Macau, Ho Iat Seng, to members of the Legislative Assembly and to the DICJ requesting the MJC respond to the issue of compensation before 15 March.
However, according to sources, the MJC replied on 12 March and reiterated that “under extreme financial pressure” the Club is unable to accept the horse owners’ request for compensation.”
An owner emphasized in an interview with IAG that he could not accept the MJC’s reply.
“Over the past few days, the Owners’ Group has repeatedly invited the senior management of the MJC, including its Chairman Angela Leong, to attend the owners’ meetings, but in the end, none of them has attended the meetings,” he said.
“There has been no face-to-face contact over the past few months, only official letters.
“Early last year, the MJC persuaded horse owners to buy horses to race in Macau, but in the end, the horses were unable to race, so this matter needs to be explained to the horse owners.”
Asked whether the owners’ group has any further follow-up plans, the owner replied, “There are many horse owners in our group and we need to communicate with each other before making a decision.”
There are now less than 20 days to go before the 1 April deadline for closure of the MJC with multiple issues unresolved including the fate of more than 100 staff, the future of the horses and what will become of the land upon which the racecourse currently sits.
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