Happy Valley Racecourse
View of the racecourse in 2008
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| Location | Wan Chai District, Hong Kong |
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| Owned by | Hong Kong Jockey Club |
| Date opened | 1845 |
| Capacity | 55,000 |
| Course type | Thoroughbred |
| Official website | |
| Happy Valley Racecourse | |||||||||||||||||
Westerly panorama of Happy Valley Racecourse
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Happy Valley Racecourse at night
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| Traditional Chinese | 快活谷馬場 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 快活谷马场 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 跑馬地馬場 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 跑马地马场 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Kuàihuogǔ mǎchǎng |
| Yale Romanization | Kwàihwogǔ mǎchǎng |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Faai wuht gùk máh cheùhng |
| IPA | [fāːi wʊ̀t kʊ̂k ma̬ː tsʰœ̏ːŋ] |
| Jyutping | faai3 wut6 guk1 maa5 coeng4 |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Pǎomǎdì mǎchǎng |
| Yale Romanization | Pǎumǎdì mǎchǎng |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Paaú màh deí máh cheùhng |
| IPA | [pʰǎːu ma̬ː těi ma̬ː tsʰœ̏ːŋ] |
| Jyutping | paau2 maa5 dei2 maa5 coeng4 |
The Happy Valley Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing and is a tourist attraction in Hong Kong. It is located in Happy Valley on Hong Kong Island, surrounded by Wong Nai Chung Road and Morrison Hill Road.
The capacity of the venue is 55,000.
It was first built in 1845 to provide horse racing for the British people in Hong Kong. Before it was built, the area was a swampland, but also the only flat ground suitable for horse racing on Hong Kong Island. To make way for the racecourse, Hong Kong Government prohibited rice growing by villages in the surrounding area. The first race ran in December 1846. Over the years, horse racing became more and more popular among the Chinese residents.
On 26 February 1918, there was a fire and at least 590 people died. By the next day as many as 576 confirmed deaths were reported by the Hong Kong Telegraph. It was caused by the collapse of a temporary grandstand, which knocked over food stalls and set bamboo matting ablaze.
The race track was rebuilt in 1995, and became a world-class horse racing facility.
The Happy Valley Racecourse is one of two racecourses in Hong Kong used by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for horse racing meets, the other being the Sha Tin Racecourse. Races in Happy Valley usually take place on Wednesday nights and are open to the public as well as members of the Club. The Happy Valley Racecourse and its seven-storey stands are capable of accommodating approximately 55,000 spectators.
The inner field of the course contains sports and leisure facilities such as football, hockey and rugby fields, managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
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Wikipedia