Some 34 racehorses from Macao are currently undergoing a 30-day quarantine period in Zhuhai, TDM reports. Around 120 more of the SAR’s horses are expected to follow suit, according to the company that operates the quarantine facility.
Macao’s horse racing industry ended on 30 March, mired in heavy debts after more than 40 years of operations. The controversial decision to close the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) means almost 300 animals stabled at the city’s Taipa racetrack need to find new homes – and a deadline of March 2025 has been set to have all horses removed from the city.
Gongbei Customs told TDM that the 34 horses entered the mainland via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. After a clinical exam, they were transported to Yintan Quarantine in Zhuhai’s Doumen District.
[See more: A final farewell: Macao’s horse racing era draws to a close as the curtain falls on the Macau Jockey Club]
When the horses’ complete their quarantine, they’ll reportedly be relocated to Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia and Shandong, among other places in China.
According to TDM, the former racehorses will be used for “competitions, shows, performing arts and other purposes.”
Many of Macao’s racehorse owners have expressed frustration with the MJC’s decision to call it quits, and the abrupt way in which the industry has been wound up. They have repeatedly called for more compensation from the MJC, to help cover the costs of shipping their horses to countries such as the US and New Zealand.
