the news
Meydan’s developers move onto China Those with the “know-how” sought to get equine project off the ground Tianjin Horse City, part of the continuing development and opening up of horseracing in China, will be developed by Medan City Copr., the group which was responsible for building Meydan racecourse in Dubai. The 10-year $3.5 billion project will create an international equestrian complex in the seaside city of Tianjin, including a racetrack, an equestrian college, breeding and auction facilities, equestrian sport venues, shopping and entertainment centre, and a five- to seven-star hotel. Malaysia’s TAK Design Consultants, China’s Zhouji Jiye and Tianjin Farm Group will partner with Meydan on the project. The project will also include a grandstand in the shape of a phoenix, homes, offices and three hotels with a total of 4,000 rooms to be built on farmland granted by the Chinese government. “Horseracing is a brand-new industry in China,” said Teo Ah Khing, the managing director of TAK Design Consultants. “There are little dots all over the country of horseracing and breeding, but no structure.” According to the Dubai Racing Club, the Tianjin project proposal calls for the equestrian college, breeding facilities, and feed plant to be completed and put into trial operation by end of 2011.
Will the Falcon be flying again? International Equine Group Ltd (IEG) is the flagship investment arm of shareholders Meydan City Corporation and Teo A. Khing Design Consultants Sdn Bhd (known as TAK). IEG will be, subject to contract, responsible for the financing and investments in Tianjin Horse City. The shareholder Meydan City Corporation will provide resources for all technical and market inputs required for the horseracing industry in Tianjin Horse City. Meydan and its associates will bring current practices and industry know-how in this joint venture. The shareholder TAK will provide all the technical planning and design inputs, project management, and construction management services and value engineering services for the implementation and completion of the project. The hotel, clubhouse, shopping centre, and entertainment centre is tentatively set to be completed by the end of 2012. Proposals on policy change that would allow for the growth of commercial horseracing are not expected to begin until 2013. “The commencement of the
construction of a horseracing field will depend on the decision of the State on commercial horseracing,” reported the Dubai Racing Club. “The group will be fully prepared for such a construction.” The project is still far from a sure thing. Horseracing was
introduced to China by the British and by the 1930s Shanghai was home to one of the world’s largest racetracks. Racing came to an end in 1949 with the Communist revolution that took over the country, banning the sport and all forms of gambling. However, horseracing was once again legalised in 2008, although betting is limited to lottery-style scratch-off tickets that reveal the post number of a horse in a given race. The ticket is a winner if that post number wins. Tianjin Horse City has filed its application to the Chinese Equestrian Association for the establishment of a national equestrian sports and horseracing training base. A report last year published by the Kentucky China Trade Centre took a pessimistic view of the prospect of horseracing in China. “We cannot see a bright future for commercial horseracing, horseracing gambling and racetracks in mainland China in terms of the central government’s attitude towards the issue and the circumstances of laws prohibiting it,” said the report. But despite persistent lobbying from local governments to relax the rules, China’s central government has refused to break a taboo on gambling, which is a favourite pastime of the Chinese. An estimated £50bn flows out of China on illegal betting every year.
Genetic testing for myostatin to be available at this summer’s US sales David Lambert's and Matthew Binns’s EquiGen in the US is offering genetic testing of racing and sales prospects as a prelude to launching a more extensive
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panel of tests later this year. Currently available are tests for the myostatin gene as identified by Dr. Emmeline Hill’s and Jim Bolger’s Irish-based
www.internationalthoroughbred.net
company Equinome. The test determines a combination of two possible alleles, “C” or “T”, at a certain position on the myostatin gene. Different
combinations of the alleles are closely correlated with optimum racing distance (see February 2010 issue of International Thoroughbred).