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Horse racing in Hong Kong is big. I mean very
big. September 6th kicked off the 10-month long racing season, and
I along with 40,000 other spectators joined Tung Che-Hwa (Hong Kong's
Chief Executive) in inaugurating the new season at the Happy Valley
Racecourse with over US$120 million in betting. This was the first
race under Chinese rule, and was named and held in honor of
Mr. Tung. Below are a couple of pictures of the opening
celebrations. As you can tell, I was in the cheap seats.
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Perhaps I should clarify. I personally only bet HK$120
(approx. US$15). A kind soul who spoke good English explained to me
how to fill out the betting slip. Thus, on the second race, I bet that
three out of the following four horses would finish 1,2,3 in any
order: #3, #4, #1, #8. This kind of bet is called a "Quinilla Place."
Betting novices like myself, along with habitual gamblers, can get all
the odds and statistics on each race in their favorite newspaper on
race day. Each newspaper has a separate section devoted to horse
racing. As I said, horse racing is big here.
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How did I fare? The top four horses in my race were: #6 (grumble), #3,
#4, and #1. So had it not been for the overzealous jockey on horse #6,
I'd have cleaned up. And thus ends my short but illustrious career as
a "high-stakes" gamblin' fool.
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