Is horse racing ready to work with the evolution of AI?
It is what it was and if few cared if it exuded some sort of excitement and a little bit of pizazz, but not the same old pizza with the usual toppings, the opening of the new Hong Kong racing season last week seemed to go through the motions and retreated into an empty shell of ancient corporate clichés.
Despite the tendency these days in Hong Kong for the tedious mentioning by different groups and the government about the usual five year and ten year plans when we all know that most who dreamt this stuff up won’t even be around to see any of this happening, there’s a need to keep up pretences, because this is why some are being paid the big bucks.
Do they realise that few believe their words? Maybe they don’t care. What they should care about is where and how AI might crash every idea that’s being finalised- including horse racing.
Though the video below showing highlights of last Sunday’s season opening could have been a montage of clips from the past decade with front and centre being another impressive exhibition gallop by Ka Ying Rising, the long shadow of AI is everywhere.
There was another of those energetic performances of by the HKJC CEO’s seemingly favourite local celebrity in sixty year old Aaron Kwok, the Canto Pop actor and dancer who kinda sings, is also a horse owner and the HKJC ambassador for the Lunar New Year of the Horse.
Jeez and cheese whizz, but all this fluffy stuff only goes to show how tired and withered Hong Kong- and Hong Kong racing- is looking these days whereas the Club’s usual hirings and firings and kinda sad individual LinkedIn announcements come and go like water off a wet duck’s back.
What happens at 1 Sports Road stays at 1 Sports Road though when it eventually comes out where, depending on the day, is an unappetising mix of arrogance, nepotism, various allegations and the usual suspects playing out the usual politics and power plays.
Here was the opening for the 2026-27 racing season with a rare appearance by Hong Kong’s chief executive, and, yet, there was not even a poster or coupon of the on-again and off again status of the much ballyhooed billion dollar promise of horse racing in Conghua, China.
Perhaps an article in the SCMP about a week ago gave whatever corporate communications strategy that the HKJC was cobbling together made things come undone when yet another delay was announced because of “risk assessment from the relevant mainland departments”?
All this now familiar basketball type dribbles and drabs of information can come and go and everything will perhaps appear to look peachy keen and be kept on ice for another day. But…
Having attended a discussion with many from the tech sector present and held outside of the city last week about AI, it’s something one hopes that horse racing is closely monitoring.
The discussion mainly centred around whether everything has moved too fast with those online platforms accepting AI produced music might having to change course or jump ship.
It made one wonder what those leading the days of future passed of horse racing might have up their sleeves just in case the technology driven tail starts controlling the AI Trojan horse.
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