Opened 1845 Phone +852 2895 1523 | Date opened 1845 Capacity 55,000 | |
 | ||
Location Wan Chai District, Hong Kong Address The Hong Kong Jockey Club Happy Valley Racecourse, Wong Nai Chung Rd, Happy Valley, Hong Kong Similar Sha Tin Racecourse, Racecourse Station, Victoria Peak, Lamma Island, Lantau Island | ||
Horse racing at night happy valley racecourse hong kong on the 26 11 2014 ii
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.
Contents
- Horse racing at night happy valley racecourse hong kong on the 26 11 2014 ii
- Happy valley racecourse
- History
- Facilities
- The Hong Kong Jockey Club Archive and Museum
- References
The capacity of the venue is 55,000.
Happy valley racecourse
History
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.
Facilities
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.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Archive and Museum
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Archive and Museum (or Hong Kong Racing Museum) was set up in 1995 and opened on 18 October 1996. It is now located on the second floor of the Happy Valley Stand of the racecourse.
There are four galleries in the museum:
There is also a cinema and a souvenir shop in the museum.