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FEATURE: Hong Kongers unmoved by equestrian events

Employees of the Tuen Mun public equestrian riding school wash horses outside the stables in Hong Kong on Oct. 14. As one of the world's premier racing cities, Hong Kong knows a thing or two about horseflesh but is struggling to generate interest in equestrian events it will host during next year's Beijing Games. PHOTO: AFP

As one of the world's premier racing cities, Hong Kong knows a thing or two about horses but is struggling to generate interest in the equestrian events it will host as part of next year's Beijing Games.

With fewer than 300 days to go before the equestrian world's elite descend on the city for 12 days of competition, there is little sign that the Olympic spirit is taking hold.

"I really have no interest in the Olympic horse events," said a taxi driver surnamed Chan, adding he preferred mahjong.

Throw in concerns over summer heat and the city's choking pollution, and it is clear that organizers have a job on their hands to stoke up some enthusiasm.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), which is bankrolling preparations for the events, marked the 300-day countdown on Oct. 13 with cocktails for city grandees, a harborside fireworks display and a light show at its Happy Valley headquarters -- all of which rated little mention in local newspapers.

Legislator Tommy Cheung Yu-yan has expressed concern about the "lukewarm" response to the Games generally, while Home Affairs Secretary Tsang Tak-sing said public education campaigns are planned.

A recent series of international horse shows at newly completed facilities in the rural New Territories have been sparsely attended despite free entry.

Between Aug. 9 and Aug. 20 next year, six equestrian events will be staged -- team and individual events in dressage, jumping and eventing, which is an integrated competition of dressage, jumping and cross-country riding.

Christopher Yip, media manager of the local division of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG), said 225 horses and contingents including riders, grooms and vets totalling around 2,000 people were expected.

Organizers were planning for a total of 18,000 spectators per day, he added.

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But Yip said it had become evident that organizers need to generate public interest in equestrianism in a city where a tiny fraction of the population regularly ride, and where only the very wealthy can afford the staggering overheads.

Of Hong Kong's 7 million population, the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation estimates there are just 1,000 to 1,500 riders.

"Perhaps if I understood how it all worked, then I'd be interested," said an office worker in the downtown Wanchai district. "Like volleyball, if I know the rules then I can follow the game. But with the horse events, I don't. No one does."

Hong Kong may have a challenge on its hands but it is in a better position than Beijing to host the events.

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China's lack of a quarantine protocol and the prevalence of more than a dozen equine diseases meant BOCOG had little choice but to outsource the equestrian events, said John Ridley, HKJC's head of racing operations.

However, with little tradition of equestrian sports outside of horse racing, Hong Kong had no facilities for hosting the Games events when it was asked by Beijing to take them on.

As one of the world's richest and most powerful thoroughbred racing clubs, the HKJC could handle logistical demands of bringing in hundreds of top-grade horses, but was "going from kindergarten to doing a PhD" in making the leap to hosting Olympic events, he said.

The club stumped up HK$800 million (US$100 million) to renovate existing venues and build new ones, Ridley said, adding that most will revert to HKJC control after the Games -- to the delight of local trainers.

A trial event in August, involving 17 international and 20 local competitors -- described by Ridley as "two-star riders and horses" -- uncovered problems which have raised concerns among some potential participants.

Chief among concerns are the searing sub-tropical heat of a Hong Kong August, with temperatures around 35?C and humidity of up to 90 percent, plus the thick pollution that drifts over the border from southern China's manufacturing belt.

"It's like going into a sauna with your clothes on and then being asked to ride a horse that's sweating up like it has got a jumper on its back," Britain's Daily Mail newspaper quoted Paralympic rider Lee Pearson as telling Zara Phillips, reigning three-day event world champion and granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II.

"Why do they pick these places?" Phillips, who is expected to compete next year, was quoted as responding. "It's the same for the athletes as well. I mean, why do they do it?"

Ridley said no horses became "distressed" because of the heat during the trial event -- which was delayed a day by a typhoon -- but plans have been modified to ensure the animals are properly cooled during the Olympics.
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