Greyhounds running on the dirt track
Asia’s last remaining greyhound racing track closed in June of 2018, so I decided to pay it a visit just before it closed. Greyhound racing has a significantly lower profit than horse racing, a brief glance at the information board reveals that each race has less than $10 000 in the “place” pool and no more than $80 000 in the “win” pool. A single horse race in Happy Valley in Hong Kong easily reaches over $10m in just one of the betting pools. There are only 6 dogs in any race, in contrast to 12-14 for horse racing, providing significantly higher winning odds. Maybe that’s why it can’t afford to find a new place to move out to. Greyhound racing feels a lot smaller with a smaller crowd and a smaller track.
Facilities included an air-conditioned VIP box and a restaurant. If you’re a poor bum like me you’ll have to survive in the open air seats in the heat and a fan cooled betting area. The dogs in the kennel bark every time a race begins like clockwork and the dog with the lowest payout is almost always guaranteed to place. In one of the races, the dog with the lowest payout came in so far behind I thought the race was finished before it caught up to the finish line.
Dogs being presented before a race
Bets start at $10 a unit and they have separate betting booths for patrons making bets in HKD and MOP, but no ATM machines in the vicinity. There are fewer betting combinations available so it was pretty easy to pick up even for a beginner like myself. After the canidrome closed Asian greyhound gamblers have to travel to Australia, the Americas, or Europe to cast their bets.
