{"id":485419,"date":"2025-10-09T10:31:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/485419\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T10:31:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:31:15","slug":"when-hong-kongs-happy-valley-got-night-racing-up-and-running-in-1973","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/485419\/","title":{"rendered":"When Hong Kong\u2019s Happy Valley got night racing up and running in 1973"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSenior officials of the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club are investigating the possibility of holding night race meetings at Happy Valley<\/a> [\u2026] another step on the professional road which will eventually lead to year-round racing,\u201d reported the South China Morning Post on March 30, 1972.<\/p>\n

\u201cA leading Hongkong architect has been engaged to draw up the plans for the installation of a floodlighting system [\u2026] In the words of one senior steward of the club: \u2018We have only one major worry. The state of the track.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue was addressed in a later Post column, on May 2, where \u201cthe top executive of the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club<\/a>, General Bernard Penfold, yesterday disclosed ambitious plans for the club\u2019s professional future with night racing on an all-weather dirt track at Happy Valley.\"\u201cSenior\u201cSenior officials of the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club are investigating the possibility of holding night race meetings at Happy Valley,\u201d reported the South China Morning Post on March 30, 1972. Photo: SCMP Archives<\/p>\n

\u201cSaid Australian jockey Ross MacMillan: \u2018This will be a great benefit to professional riders. We really need more race days and this has come at an opportune moment.\u2019 There could be difficulties before the plan swung [sic] into operation. Government and police approval will be necessary before midweek night racing becomes a reality. However, it is an ambitious plan deserving full support.\u201d<\/p>\n

And on October 18, 1973, the Post reported how \u201cHongkong\u2019s night racing venture got off to a rain-drenched traffic snarl, but a highly-successful [sic] start at Happy Valley last night. The six race inaugural meeting was run off before a packed crowd at floodlit Happy Valley, but the numbers inside were trebled by those in the Happy Valley area<\/a> and its environs.\"TheThe first night race at the Happy Valley Racecourse, on October 17, 1973. Photo: SCMP Archives<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least 8,000 people jammed car parks, footpaths, streets and balconies round the track to see night racing inaugurated. In Wongneichong Road [Wong Nai Chung Road], the crowd flowed on to the street helping to contribute to a traffic jam which stretched from Causeway Bay to Wanchai and over the waterfront road flyover almost to the harbour tunnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crowd which saw the races inside had very little on those outside except for certain Jockey Club facilities. Illegal bookmakers were operating freely and there seemed to be few policemen on duty outside the track.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSenior officials of the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club are investigating the possibility of holding night race meetings at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[160599,160600,160601,160602,160603,94459,18067,160604,160605,529,1071,160606,47141,79,149531,16,15,160607,160608],"class_list":{"0":"post-485419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-all-weather-dirt-track","9":"tag-australian-jockey-ross-macmillan","10":"tag-causeway-bay","11":"tag-floodlighting-system","12":"tag-general-bernard-penfold","13":"tag-happy-valley","14":"tag-hongkong","15":"tag-illegal-bookmakers","16":"tag-night-racing","17":"tag-police","18":"tag-racing","19":"tag-royal-hongkong-jockey-club","20":"tag-south-china-morning-post","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-traffic-jam","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-wanchai","26":"tag-wong-nai-chung-road"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115343752750674409","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}