A work colleague is heading to Hong Kong and going to the races on March 12th, any tips, info anyone can offer would be appreciated
Sorry gazboy, been up country and only just seen this. For now look at this. http://entertainment.hkjc.com/entertainment/english/go-racing/happyvalley-racecourse.aspx
Gaz, this website gives off a lot of info. It even shows the track work news. So your mate might find it worth while having a look in the week leading up to the meeting he wants to attend. http://racing.scmp.com/
So if he is going on the 12th he's going to Happy Valley, which is the older racecourse and on the Island. It is the more spectacular one to go to as it is stuck in the middle of a teeming metropolis. The racing is OK, but Sha Tin has the better races and is a better track. Great place to go though. If he enjoys it he should go to Sha Tin on the Sunday to compare. The admission to the course is HK$10, which is about 75p at the moment. It is perfectly OK to do this. There's plenty of space and it's easy to get a bet on once you've decided how it works. THE HKJC supply helpers who explain how you can bet. There are the normal win and place totalisator bets, but a whole series of other bets you can do on a single race or a number of races. There are usually 10 races by the way and the minimum stake is HK$20. No bookmakers, or at least no legal ones. It's a safe place, but if he's not too ugly and looks as if he has some dosh he may have the odd klingon by the end of the evening. All very innocent really. There are plenty of watering holes and places to get some chinese food, but the food is not special). Most of the races are 5f and 6 f sprints and it's hard for a horse drawn outside of the first 5-6 to win these races. All races are handicaps and you may even get a horse running for the first time in HK (has run elsewhere) that is handicapped. The races are graded as in the UK and horses either race at the same grade or go lower or higher at times, so look out for that in the programme (must buy one... not just a form sheet). I went once and 9 out of the 10 winners came from draw 1-5 but it doesn't always work like that. If your friend is on his own he may just want to go into the course enclosure. If he is with someone he may want to choose one of the restaurants or bars that are advertised on the website I sent yesterday. These serve good food (included in the price is this + entrance + first drink), wine and beer and you can always get a fruit based drink for the ladies. I'd normally go to one of these and you have to book in advance. The only drawback may be that your friend may feel a bit remote from the racing. But it's very civilised. You tend to get Happy Valley specialists and Sha Tin specialists. HV is very tight (nearest thing is Chester), so some horses don't run so well there. Getting there is easy. I'd get a tram from Central to Causeway Bay or Shau Kei Wein (not sure I've written that properly) go upstairs and get off near the racecouse (upstairs because he'd see the racecourse coming). You can go by MTR to Causeway Bay and walk, or just simply by taxi. It's about 10 minutes from Central normally but busy on racenights. Don't get on a bus, they are confusing and he's liable to end up in Stanley. If it's your friends first visit to HK and he's here a few days the first thing he should do is to go to an MTR station, go to the Service Centre and buy an Octopus card. He should ask them to put HK$100 on it and it will cost him HK$150. The $50 is refundable (about £4) but only after 2 months. However it will save him a lot of hassle with small change as he can use it on the Metro (MTR), buses and trams. There are top up machines for these cards. If he wants anythng more don't hesitate to ask, unless he wants winners. I did have one day when I couldn't stop backing winners but have since lost the spell. (I even backed a winner at 45-1 called Amazing Journey. Everyone wondered how I picked it out. I daren't tell them it was because it was the name of a Who song!).
Bustino - quality write up thank you very much, as its a work jolly no expense will be spared then hes off to Macau for a few days, tough game
