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HONG KONG: Hong Kong has spared no expense in
providing state-of-the-art facilities for this summer’s Olympic
equestrian events, and organizers insist they have taken every step
to counter the sweltering heat.
From the “six star”
newly-built stables to a pleasure park, the Hong Kong Jockey Club
has spent more than 1.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$150 million)
making sure the 200 visiting horses are provided with every comfort.
“You have got horses coming
here who are worth 14 to 15 million euros [US$22 million to US$23.5
million],” said John Ridley, deputy venue manager for the Jockey
Club.
The event was switched from
Beijing to the southern Chinese city because of fears of disease,
and has given the horse racing-mad city a chance to show that it can
embrace a different form of equine competition.
The Jockey Club took over the
conversion of a site adjacent to one of its tracks at Shatin in the
northern New Territories.
It also converted part of a golf
course for the cross-country element of the three-day competition.
The stables feature every perk
for the horses, from the supporting floor made out of recycled
tires, to centrally controlled air-conditioning, all monitored 24
hours a day by a CCTV network.
An army of vets, an
air-conditioned indoor training center—a first at the
Olympics—and a late-night and early morning schedule have all been
incorporated to keep the horses safe.
--AFP
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