Class and Refinement with Animals

A couple weeks ago we went to the opening races of the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Happy Valley near Causeway Bay. There, you could bet on a horse and lose some money, be it through said gambling or booze.

I went because I thought it might be something of an experience—and it was, just not the one that I imagined. It happened the Wednesday before last and was advertised by the International Student Association here as an event worth going to because horse racing is a favorite pastime of Hong Kong.

Whereas I can see the Jockey Club’s influence everywhere here (because as a non-profit they charitably get money from the people who lost it on horses and give it to organization. I know that their name is plastered on a building or two on the HKU campus, as they probably donated funds to help build it. That’s all fine and dandy.

The theme for the night was gold, and if you wore gold, you’d get entered into a raffle for a special prize. I didn’t wear gold. I only saw a handful of people wearing gold.

From what I read, it was to be a classy event, but with two pitchers of beer (buy one get one free) for HK$120, most of the people on the ground level were drunk, many of which having bought a couple pitchers for themselves.

From what I saw, there were hardly any locals in sight. The crowdedness of the expats and tourists made me think it was more for expats and tourists than being a pastime of Hong Kong.