After years of "uninterrupted galloping growth," the 131-year-old Hong Kong Jockey Club has "hit a hurdle, as the economic slowdown and corruption crackdown in China filters down to one of the city’s most venerable institutions," according to Bryan Harris of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The not-for-profit "bastion of Hong Kong society" has reported a "year-on-year decline in turnover -- the first contraction since the global financial crisis" -- of 3.5% so far this season, "bucking a trajectory" that saw annual turnover jump 80% to more than $13B in a decade. The development is the "latest setback for the former British colony," which, alongside neighboring Macau, is "struggling with the fallout of the economic tremors and anti-graft probe on the mainland." If sustained, "the downward trajectory for the club -- which holds a monopoly on gambling in the city -- echoes declines seen in other countries." Racing turnover in the U.K. has dropped 17% since '08, while the "sport of kings" in the U.S. is laboring under the "twin pressures of plunging attendance at races and dwindling wagers." HK Jockey Club Exec Dir Richard Cheung acknowledged the role of China in influencing the club’s fortunes. Cheung: "In the past 12 months, with the drop in tourism figures and the impact on Hong Kong people with wealth exposure to the mainland, we do see a flattening in our turnover." Club officials said the corruption crackdown in China may have had an "indirect" impact on revenues. Industry watchers and analysts were "less measured." Steve Vickers, former head of the Royal Hong Kong police’s criminal intelligence bureau and founder of a risk consultancy, said, "It is evident the expansion [in turnover] was not rooted in Hong Kong but rather cross-border. With the crackdown on unauthorized capital by the authorities, it will be interesting to see if it will be sustained" (FT, 12/10).
