Australian Turf Club CEO Darren Pearce "is quick to recite:" 40% of Sydney's population by '30 "will be of Chinese ancestry," according to Adam Pengilly of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Pearce said, "It's really now or never ... we either engage the Chinese community and get them on the bus or get left behind. It's a chance for us to showcase racing the Australian way to the Chinese community. I'm sure it's something they will embrace. Every great journey needs a first step and this is our first step." It is "a while before the autumn carnival or The Championships roll into town, but mark down January 16 as perhaps an equally significant Sydney race date to start the year when the inaugural Chinese Festival of Racing is held at Randwick." A "slew of federal and state government ministers will be there." Business leaders. High-ranking Chinese officials. A "local Chinese media horde nudging 20." Projections of more than 2,000 people from Sydney's Chinese community "set to flood the general public areas." Even a "former Miss China International." Australian Chinese Primary Industry Council Chair James Tong said, "Now it's about other investment opportunities [for Sydney's Chinese community] and at the same time they want something where they can enjoy life. I think horse racing is another area -- another new area -- for them to enjoy" (SMH, 1/14).
