Stepping out in Hong Kong: A night at the horse races

In Hong Kong and bored on a Wednesday night? Take yourself to the races.

For people living in Hong Kong, Wednesdays are synonymous with two things: Ladies Night in Wan Chai ( a.k.a. free flow alcohol for the fairer sex in one of the city’s more notorious districts) and an evening of betting on horses at the race track.

Since I abstain from even the tiniest tipple, the obvious choice for me is to gawk at galloping horses.  As such, Liebling and I hopped in a cab one warm evening in October and made the trip to the Happy Valley Racecourse.

Happy Valley is a well-to-do residential district more or less wedged between Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, but is probably best known for its racecourse, where races take place weekly from September to July.  Not exclusively for hardcore gamblers, the ambiance is more social and congenial than competitive — a great place to meet up with friends old and new.

Busier than an electronics shop on Black Friday, the racecourse is more densely packed than a tin of sardines — if you’re not into crowds you’d do well to avoid this place like the plague. Merriment permeates the air and the din of conversation from the throngs of people everywhere assaults the ears; men in suits who make serious wagers intermingle with plainclothes folk just there to soak up the atmosphere and have a good time.

On the night we’re there, Oktoberfest celebrations are in full swing; a band from Germany in full lederhosen belt out German songs and hoist steins, heavy with lager, to their foreheads. The image is priceless. I laugh while my own deutscher Mann, Liebling, looks on bemusedly.

While I am content to stand around and enjoy the spectacle, Liebling has betting on his mind, so we make our way purposefully to the area where the horses are put on display before they race. The hoofed mammals are trotted out one by one and we are put to the difficult task of trying to predict a winner based on looks alone.

Horse chosen (its name escapes me now), we head to the betting counter and lay down the conservative sum of 100 Hong Kong Dollars (about $13 USD).

We quickly head back to the stands where we have a good view of the proceedings. Suddenly, the horses are off and running!

In the mad dash I can barely keep my eyes on the horse we’ve pegged to be a winner.  No matter, however: in 45 seconds it’s all over and we discover that our horse places third.

Our odds weren’t particularly good, so we only net a paltry sum of about 70 Hong Kong Dollars (about $9 USD) on top of our initial bet.  Still, our winnings just about pay for our taxi ride to and from the track so we have a bit of spring in our step as venture back home.

All in all, a great way to spend a Wednesday!

Have you ever been to a horse race?