Happy Valley

In the US, horse racing is considered to be a rather dodgy kind of betting. Scruffy, unemployed, lonely men with beer bellies sitting around on a Tuesday afternoon. We see no gain in betting on the horses, only loss. It's a lonely pasttime that we think is spent hunched over the Daily Racing Form and losing all of our money.

My uncle took me to Aqueduct once when I was eight. I remember having a lot of fun. We won a bit of money betting on the third horse in the third race that I chose for the name: Booksmart. But I never went back, because the atmosphere was so crummy; dirty seats, greasy food, cigarette butts, spilt beer. It was the epitome of the stereotype.

In HK, horse races are a big deal. Like a BIG DEAL. Horses race every Wednesday night. If you want to go anywhere near Happy Valley Racecourse on a Wednesday, any and every cab driver will groan with dismay. "Very traffic" he'll insist emphatically. But that's where you're going, so into the traffic you drive. Now, Hong Kong is not a heavy-traffic kind of city. Most of the time, the going is so smooth that it makes New York look like a parking lot. But on Race Night, it's so clogged, it's ridiculous. Everyone and their mother's uncle goes to the Races.

Happy Valley Racecourse is in the MIDDLE of the city. Built in the mid 19th century for all of the Brits who lived there, the Chinese love it. Space comes at a really high premium in HK, so the fact that there is that much space left untouched for horse racing speaks a lot to its importance in the culture. It's the only form of gambling that's legal in HK. If you want to play blackjack, poker, roulette, etc, you take the hour-long ferry ride out to Macau.

Going to Happy Valley, I remembered my only other experience with the sport and was wary, even though I really had no reason to be. Everything in HK is insanely clean (due to the Hong Kongese obsession with health and hygiene), so why should the racecourse be any different?

First of all, we watched the races from a nightclub called Adrenaline, which is really close to the finish line. The club is nice, although the waitstaff doesn't understand what a "Virgin Colada" is, and the AC is cranked up so high you think you're in Alaska, sharing a drink with Sarah Palin. (A side note: Every nice place that I have gone to in HK has had the AC up this high, giving a big 'fuck you' to the environment by proving just how successful their business is that they can afford just that much cold air.) Anyway ... there are 8 races a night, spaced out over three hours. In between you choose your horses, place your bets, and just hang out. It's a really good time, and something you're never going to find in the States.