Some 177 of Macao’s former racehorses have been relocated to the neighbouring mainland city of Zhuhai after more than 40 years of racing in the city ended last April, according to casino industry website Inside Asian Gaming (IAG).
When the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) wound up operations due to financial troubles, it was granted until the end of March 2025 to relocate the 289 horses stabled at Taipa’s now-defunct racetrack.
According to the Customs and Excise Department of Zhuhai’s Doumen District, 177 of those horses made it to a quarantine facility operated by Jinping Horses Company Limited – the only isolation and quarantine base for the MJC’s retired horses moving into the mainland.
The horses were reportedly transported in five batches between April 2024 and this month, IAG says.
[See more: Five things you may not know about the history of the Macau Jockey Club]
Previous reporting suggested that horses reaching Zhuhai would later be relocated to Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia and Shandong, among other places in China.
According to TDM, the former racehorses are to be used for “competitions, shows, performing arts and other purposes.”
The current locations of the other Macao horses is unknown. Last year, many owners said they hoped to send their steeds to Australia or New Zealand – but there were concerns that subsidies offered by the MJC would not be enough to make transporting them so far away cost-effective.
The SAR’s racehorse owners repeatedly lambasted the MJC the way it handled horse racing’s termination process and the inadequate compensation it offered them.
