Super typhoon which poses 'serious threats' to region halts horse racing in Hong Kong

A super typhoon forecast to pose “serious threats” to the region has forced the cancellation of racing in Hong Kong. Super Typhoon Ragasa has already caused evacuations in the Philippines and Taiwan as it threatens to intensify into the strongest storm of 2025 in south east Asia.

Meteorologists predict it will bring hurricane-force winds of up 140mph to Hong Kong on Wednesday. Government departments have put emergency response teams on standby and sandbags have been distributed in areas most at risk of flooding.

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The Hong Kong Observatory said: “Ragasa has extensive circulation. Gale to storm-force winds will prevail on Wednesday, and winds may reach hurricane force offshore and on high ground.”

Sunday’s meeting at Sha Tin was abandoned after 140mm of rain fell on the track to leave part of the track waterlogged. Eight races went ahead before stewards decided to call off the rest of the fixture.

“We’ve had about 140 millimetres of rain since 3am this morning,” said Head of Raceday Operations, Tracks and Training Facilities, Stephen Higgins.

“It is just one area of the track about two horse lengths long that’s causing us concern. It’s much softer than the rest of the track, it’s on the apex of the bend where the drain runs into the infield.

“We had a delegation of the stewards, myself and three of our leading jockeys, Zac Purton, Hugh Bowman and Alexis Badel and we all agreed to ask them to gallop over that particular section would not be in the best interests of racing. On that basis the stewards have taken the decision to abandon racing.

“We believe if we’d have left it some time that section would have improved but the reality is we are cognisant of customers’ comfort and they don’t want to be waiting round without any real certainty that racing would continue.

“On the basis of safety for horses and jockeys I think we’ve made the sensible decision to stop racing.”

The Hong Kong Jockey Club subsequently announced Wednesday’s fixture would not go ahead, which is estimated to cost £28 million in lost betting turnover.

“In light of the approaching Super Typhoon Ragasa and the latest forecasts issued by the Hong Kong Observatory, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has decided that the Happy Valley race meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 24 Sep, will be cancelled,” a statement said.