Hong Kong: All bets are on in Happy Valley

Excellent Partners, horse No 8 in the San Francisco Handicap at Hong Kong's sweeping Happy Valley racecourse, is lying down and refusing to move and the large punter beside me puts his mobile phone away and starts chewing his nails. The opening race of the meeting is delayed while the sorrowful Excellent Partners is taken off the exquisitely kept turf and the race can start. But nerves are already badly jangled.

The number eight is considered auspicious in China and many gamblers at this downtown track had backed the CW Chang-trained steed for this reason alone. In a society where numerology can dictate when, or even who, you should marry, you have simply got to get the numbers right. An elderly punter, wearing a San Miguel beer T-shirt and England soccer shorts, and dangling a sandal from his crossed foot, is peering at the racing form as if willing time to go backwards, shaking his head in disbelief. He bounces back quickly as he works out the odds on the Seattle Handicap and pads jauntily to the bank of kiosks nearby to place his bets, betraying not one iota of disappointment, merely determination.

The tension is incredible and it's this excitement that makes a trip to Happy Valley one of the world's great sporting nights out. As the horses near the finishing post, the crowd roars and the whole, long grandstand seems to be cranked on adrenalin. The horses circle down in the VIP area after the weigh-in, and avid punters watch on a gigantic video screen for signs of strength or weakness as the horses slowly make their way around the ring. This same screen is an oracle to the punter, giving updated odds on the extremely complicated bet types that Chinese racing fans favour.

The season, which runs from September to June, generates huge tax revenues for the Hong Kong government. One day's turnover can outstrip the income many European or American racecourses generate in a year. A single race here can take in nearly £20m, with betting also allowed at the Jockey Club's network of betting offices around the city. And what a course it is too. A strong contender for the world's most spectacular track, it is surrounded by high-rise buildings, and as evening falls and the floodlights come on, it is an eerie but magnificent sight.

The crowd is a cross-section of Hong Kong society, though there is a strong expatriate presence, with Swiss German and Cockney English mingling with the Cantonese dialects down by the railings.

Drinking beers through straws and chomping hot dogs, a group of twenty-somethings with loosened ties are here to show a pal what a meeting is like. "This is very popular in Hong Kong, very much part of the culture," says one. "It's a social gathering for us to come here. We'll just catch a few races, take a few pictures and then go to dinner with our friend, who is a businessman in southern China."

There has been racing at Happy Valley since 1846, which is just two years after the Treaty of Nanking granted the territory of Hong Kong to Britain, ending the Opium War with China. Originally a swampy, malarial piece of land called Belcher's Valley, after the early colonial administrator Edward Belcher, many British troops died trying to drain and settle the area, dubbing it Death Valley. It was renamed Happy Valley to improve its image.

From 1846 until 1980, Happy Valley was the top destination on the Hong Kong racing calendar, but in recent years Happy Valley has been eclipsed by Sha Tin, half an hour away by train in the New Territories. Often 75,000 punters feeling lucky on a weekend race night will head out to Sha Tin, which is close to the People's Republic of China, where gambling is illegal.

Inevitably, Hong Kong has become increasingly Chinese since the handover of power to Beijing in 1997. The tourists thronging the gleaming malls of Central and Tsimshatsui are predominantly mainland Chinese eager to offload some of their new moolah in the world's shopping capital. Taxi drivers are as likely to speak Mandarin Chinese as they are English and there are fewer and fewer relics of the colonial era.

But some things don't change. Happy Valley remains the headquarters of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, one relic of Britain's imperial past that has not gone the way of the Governor and the Union Jack. Happy Valley's unbeatable location within easy reach of the shopping nirvana of Causeway Bay means that it is still capable of drawing a crowd of 35,000. But racing has its work cut out for it to appeal to the younger generation, which prefers to bet on soccer matches than gee-gees. And even die-hard racing fans are attracted by illegal bookmakers, who offer better payouts.

As the tired nags are led back to their boxes and the Wednesday-night meeting comes to a close, a group of bankers wearing Birkenstock sandals tear up their stubs and hit one of the many beer tents for a pint of Stella and a pretzel. They've been luckier on the stock market today than they have at the races, but it's a great night out, isn't it?

THE COMPACT GUIDE

HOW TO GET THERE

Air New Zealand (0800-028 4149; airnewzealand.co.uk) offers return fares to Hong Kong from London from £396 in November.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Hong Kong Tourism (0800-028 4149; discover hongkong.com). Happy Valley Racecourse (happy valleyracecourse.com).