The Macau Jockey Club (MJC) has reiterated to horse owners that it has no intention of fulfilling their compensation demands. The rebuff was made in a letter published on Tuesday, and reproduced by specialist website Racing King.
The letter, written in response to a press conference that the owners held on 2 March, said the club would not be able to meet their demands due to the “significant financial pressure” that it was facing.
During the press conference, the horse owners, who number around a hundred, had demanded compensation for each horse, valuing each one at HK$1 million (US$127,850).
Instead of a compensation package, the MJC has agreed to subsidise owners for the transportation of their horses to either mainland China or an overseas country, with the subsidy for the former capped at HK$30,000 (US$3,800) and the latter set at a maximum rate of HK$200,000 (US$25,600).
[See more: Racehorse owners pen an open letter to the Legislative Assembly]
New Zealand has now been added to Malaysia and the US as a country covered by the subsidy, provided that the numbers are sufficient for a flight.
The company also restated that horses remaining on MJC grounds after the club officially closes on 1 April will still be looked after, although owners would have to pay a monthly fee of 8,000 patacas until they are transported out of the city.
According to Tam Wai Lam, an owners’ representative who spoke with TDM, the owners have yet to decide on their next course of action. He has ruled out legal action because “this might drag out the problem for a long time.” Tam also expressed his desire to deliberate the issue with the MJC in a face-to-face manner rather than through letters.
MJC management, however, has so far not participated in any of the horse owners’ meetings. An owner who spoke with Inside Asia Gaming (IAG) noted that they had extended invitations to the club Chairman Angela Leong and other senior figures during the past few days, but pointed out that “none of them has attended the meetings.”
