While blame for a sale of a thoroughbred to Hong Kong falling through is often attributed to strict veterinary protocols, data from the Jockey Club shows just 1 per cent of horses have been deemed unacceptable for importation.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club can often be unfairly maligned for its perceived hardline stance when it comes to the veterinary assessment of racehorses on the radar of its owners.
For those breeders, owners, trainers, bloodstock agents and traders who service the Hong Kong racing industry by selling horses to its permit holders, the phrase “failed the vet” gets thrown around far more readily than they would desire.
And the blame for sales falling through is often put at the feet of the Jockey Club, particularly when the seller or the facilitator, such as an agent, believes the horse is physically capable of racing to a high level in Hong Kong.
But as Dr Bronte Forbes, the Jockey Club’s Head of Veterinary Regulation, Welfare and Biosecurity Policy, tells The Straight, there is a misconception that the HKJC stops horses being purchased due to perceived or real veterinary issues.
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