Sha Tin Racecourse
Location | Sha Tin District, Hong Kong |
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Owned by | Hong Kong Jockey Club |
Date opened | October 7, 1978 |
Capacity | 85,000 |
Course type | Thoroughbred |
Notable races | Group One races: Hong Kong Derby Queen Elizabeth II Cup Champions Mile Hong Kong International Races Hong Kong Triple Crown |
Official website |
Sha Tin Racecourse | |||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 沙田馬場 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Sha Tin Racecourse (Chinese: 沙田馬場) is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club (Chinese: 香港賽馬會).
Penfold Park (Chinese: 彭福公園) is encircled by the track, and the Hong Kong Sports Institute is located immediately south of the property.
History
It was built in 1978 (under the administration of Sir David Akers-Jones, the then-Secretary for the New Territories) on reclaimed land and is the larger of the two tracks in Hong Kong.
The course has 474 races per season including:
- Sha Tin Racecourse Silver Jubilee Cup
- Sha Tin Sprint Trophy
On September 9, 2007, Sha Tin race track opened for the season with record 1-day crowd of about 60,000. Chief Secretary Henry Tang struck the ceremonial gong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club collected US$106 million in bets (highest since 2001). Children of horse owners were admitted amid protest of local anti-gambling groups. Sunny Power, booted by Howard Cheng got the trophy in the 1,200 metre dash.[1]
Features
Originally built with capacity for 35,000 and one grandstand, it now has capacity for 85,000 and two grandstands. It also has 20 stables for a capacity of 1,260 horses.
Other features include:
- Equine Hospital
- Racing Laboratory
- Equine Swimming Pool
- Riverside Gallop
Track Specifications:
- Turf
- Straight: 430 metres
- Circumference: 1899 metres
- All Weather Track
- Straight: 380 metres
- Circumference: 1560 metres
Transport
The racecourse is served by Racecourse Station of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR). The station is only used on racing days.