By MURRAY BELL in Hk Racing PostHaving ground out a more-than-satisfactory result in 2008-09 against the dire background of the global economic crisis, the Jockey Club is already looking at some pivotal big-picture strategies for the new term. The coming season will represent the Jockey Club's 125th anniversary and chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges intends to use the energy and goodwill created by the occasion as a springboard to bigger things in the immediate future.Engelbrecht-Bresg
By MURRAY BELL in Hk Racing Post
Having ground out a more-than-satisfactory result in 2008-09 against the dire background of the global economic crisis, the Jockey Club is already looking at some pivotal big-picture strategies for the new term. The coming season will represent the Jockey Club's 125th anniversary and chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges intends to use the energy and goodwill created by the occasion as a springboard to bigger things in the immediate future.
Engelbrecht-Bresges isn't one to let the grass grow under his feet. In fact, in an increasingly green world there could even be protests that he never gives the blades an even break at all. Less than 24 hours after the Sha Tin finale on Wednesday, the captain and crew were locked in planning and strategy meetings at the Sports Road headquarters. "We are looking to the future and I'm particularly interested to discover ways to make the racing product more attractive," he said. "We have come off a successful season and we must now identify the major issues that will help us grow our business and build towards the future.
"One of the lessons of the past few years is that there are clearly differentiated customer segments and that we must be careful not to mix them. We want to develop a programme to attract and retain new customers, including those that are more leisure and fun oriented, with a lighter understanding of the racing product."
The chief executive hopes next season may also see the arrival of commingling and typically takes the optimistic view that the Home Affairs Bureau and the Treasury will give the club a good hearing over something that is, after all, mere common sense. For those unfamiliar with the issue, some five years ago Engelbrecht-Bresges spun a breathtaking vision of a world where Hong Kong was the best racing-wagering product available and punters from all over the world were betting into our pools, ie commingling of monies from different countries, and the profits and taxes were shared between the host and the country of origin of the bet.
The rest of the world was captivated by the vision and ran with it, and many countries are now living the commingling dream. It is one of the cruel realities of the racing business today that Hong Kong is still unable to commingle because of the intransigence of our government and bureaucracy. Politicians and bureaucrats are still apparently unable to see that half the taxes on fresh, untapped, foreign investment into Hong Kong racing is infinitely better than 100 per cent of nothing, which is what their policy is generating at the moment.
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