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Sha Tin Racecourse
Sha Tin Racecourse
	Southeast Panorama over the Sha Tin horse race course in October 2009
Traditional Chinese	沙田馬場
Simplified Chinese	沙田马场
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Shātián Mǎchǎng
Yale Romanization	Shātyán mǎchǎng
IPA	[ʂátʰjɛ̌n màʈʂʰàŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	Sā tìhn máh cheùhng
Jyutping	Saa1 tin4 maa5 coeng4
IPA	[sáː tʰɪ̏n ma̬ː tsʰœ̏ŋ]

Sha Tin Racecourse
沙田馬場
	Overview of Sha Tin Racecourse in May 2009
Location	Sha Tin District, Hong Kong
Owned by	Hong Kong Jockey Club
Date opened	7 October 1978; 46 years ago
Capacity	85,000
Course type	Thoroughbred
Notable races	Group One races:; Hong Kong Derby; Queen Elizabeth II Cup; Champions Mile; Hong Kong International Races; Hong Kong Triple Crown
	Official website

Sha Tin Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Penfold Park is encircled by the track, and the Hong Kong Sports Institute is located immediately south of the property.

Michael Jackson planned to perform at the racecourse on his Dangerous World Tour, which was the start of the third leg, but was cancelled due to the conflict of the racing season.

History

It was built in 1978 (under the administration of Sir David Akers-Jones, the then-Secretary for the New Territories) on reclaimed land and is the larger of the two tracks in Hong Kong.

The course has 474 races per season including:

On 9 September 2007, the Sha Tin track opened for the 2007 season with an opening day record of about 60,000. Chief Secretary Henry Tang struck the ceremonial gong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club collected US$106 million in bets (the highest since 2001). Children of horse owners were admitted amid protest of local anti-gambling groups. Sunny Power, booted by Howard Cheng won in the 1,200 metre dash.^[1]

Features

Originally built with a 35,000-capacity grandstand, it now has two grandstands with a total capacity of 85,000. It also has 20 stables for a capacity of 1,260 horses.

Other features include:

Equine Hospital
Racing Laboratory
Equine Swimming Pool
Riverside Gallop

Track Specifications:

Turf
- Straight: 430 metres (470 yd)
- Circumference: 1.899 kilometres (1.180 mi)
All-Weather Track (Dirt)
- Straight: 380 metres (420 yd)
- Circumference: 1.560 kilometres (0.969 mi)

Major races

Group One

Hong Kong International Races (December)
- Hong Kong Cup - 2000m
- Hong Kong Mile - 1600m
- Hong Kong Sprint - 1200m
- Hong Kong Vase - 2400m
Hong Kong Triple Crown
- Hong Kong Stewards' Cup - 1600m (January)
- Hong Kong Gold Cup - 2000m (February)
- Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup - 2400m (May)
Centenary Sprint Cup - 1200m (January)
Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup - 1400m (February)
Queen Elizabeth II Cup - 2000m (April)
Champions Mile - 1600m (April)
Chairman's Sprint Prize - 1200m (April)

Group Two

Premier Bowl - 1200m (October)
Sha Tin Trophy - 1600m (October)
Jockey Club Day (November)
- Jockey Club Cup (Hong Kong) - 2000m
- Jockey Club Mile - 1600m
- Jockey Club Sprint - 1200m
Chairman's Trophy - 1600m (April)
Sprint Cup - 1200m (April)

Group Three

Celebration Cup - 1400m (October)
National Day Cup - 1000m (October)
Ladies' Purse - 1800m (November)
Chinese Club Challenge Cup - 1400m (January)
Bauhinia Sprint Trophy - 1000m (January)
Centenary Vase - 1600m (February)
Queen Mother Memorial Cup - 2400m (May)
Sha Tin Vase - 1200m (May)
Lion Rock Trophy - 1600m (May)
Premier Cup - 1400m (June)
Premier Plate - 1800m (June)

Listed Race

Four-year-old Series (4YO Classic Series)
- Hong Kong Classic Mile - 1600m (January)
- Hong Kong Classic Cup - 1800m (February)
- Hong Kong Derby - 2000m (March; since 1979)

Transport

The racecourse is served by Racecourse station of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR). The station is only used on racing days. There are also several bus routes. One of the racecourse bus routes, KMB 872, had a deadly bus crash.