China Equine Festival Touches the World

Ordos, China – Themed “Touch the World,” the China Equine Cultural Festival concluded its two-day run with racing at Yiqi Racecourse as well as the grand opening of the Ordos Horse Gallery and Manor on Sunday in Inner Mongolia.

Spearheaded by Teo Ah Khing, the chairman of China Horse Club, the CECF was created in 2013 as part of Teo's efforts to promote, educate and encourage a love of Thoroughbred racing within mainland China.

The big winner at Yiqi was Hales (Aus) (Haradasun{Aus}), who was ridden to an easy victory by South African jockey Sherman Brown in the 1436 CECF North Dakota Classic. The bay gelding is no stranger to the CECF, as he won the Yitai Cup last year during the same event.

Earlier in the card, the aptly named Ordos Coat (NZ) (Coat's Choice {Aus}) won the Anglo Hibernian CECF International Breeders' Cup; Seymour (NZ) (Fast 'N' Furious {Aus}) was victorious in the Australian Turf Club CECF Champions Cup with female jockey Zhang Ruirui in the irons; and Villequier (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) narrowly took the Sir Owen Glenn CECF Genghis Khan Cup.

During an off-and-on rainy afternoon, an estimated 16,000 patrons were on hand for the races, which was a dip in attendance compared to last year when more than 20,000 came. However, more than 2 million live-streamed the event, a figure which was up significantly from 2016.

In addition to drawing international racing industry leaders, there were a number of governmental officials on hand for Sunday's racing, including Wang Bo, vice president of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; Bao Manda, director of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region National Development and Reform Commission; Niu Junyan, secretary of the CPC Ordos Municipal Committee; and Gong Minzhu, mayor of Ordos, and deputy secretary of the CPC Ordos Municipal Committee.

Betting is not allowed in China, but Teo does not view that as a stumbling block to his vision, which is in part displayed through the day of racing.

“We are developing a module that will hopefully work by itself without wagering,” he said. “For 65 years, there was no racing. We have to understand that. Things have opened up now in the past couple of years. They just love the animal, as a start, and are not treating the Thoroughbred as a tool for betting. Betting is in, on, and around the agenda, but it is not the main agenda, as of now. It will be gravy, a bonus. To enter into racing for them is already a big step forward.”

The Past and the Future

Sunday also served as the grand opening of the Ordos Horse Gallery and Manor, which is located on Yiqi Racecourse.

“Essentially, this museum is capturing 5,000 years of equine history both throughout China and around the world,” said Eden Harrington, the vice president of the China Horse Club. “The Ordos Horse Museum is not only here to provide some background as to what happens in Ordos, but it is seen long-term as an educational facility. It continues the idea of CECF as a platform for the exchange of information, as a way to educate the local audience, and potentially even you might bring school children here to share racing with them and educate them about it.”

The grand opening served a dual-purpose, as the gallery is staged in a model home for a manor project that is also debuting. The house occupies 10 hectares of land, is a two-story villa made of wood, and also has an outdoor area that includes a private stable, which can accommodate up to 20 horses, as well as paddock space. The model is the first of 230 such homes to be built.

Ceremonial dancers dressed as lions were on hand to bring good fortune to the new museum and model home. As is common at opening ceremonies of this type, the “eyes” of each were dotted with paint by distinguished guests. One of those partaking in the ritual was Elliott Walden, the president of WinStar Farm, a regular partner of China Horse Club.

“I am very impressed with what is going on here in China,” said Walden. “What Teo is doing both here and on the global stage is impressive. He's an incredible visionary. To even see the progress they have made from 12 months to today is impressive. To build this museum and to build a copy of what one of the residential homes would look like on the farm is impressive. You can start to see the vision come to fruition. Teo has been a great partner to WinStar Farm, and we are proud to be here.”

Upon completion, the Ordos Breeding Project will occupy 24,573 hectares of land, which, in addition to the museum, will be comprised of the manor houses, a theme hotel, commercial development, a veterinary hospital, horse breeding and foaling facilities, pasture production and more. The aim is to develop China's first commercial Thoroughbred breeding hub, while promoting the first horse racing and tourism festival in northern China and eventually launching China's first horse racing on snow winter carnival.

“What Teo has done in a rather dogged fashion is look at all the avenues and options and possibilities to educate the Chinese people about this incredible sporting industry,” said John Warren, the bloodstock advisor for Queen Elizabeth II and chairman of the China Horse Club International Advisory Council. “He could have given up when he hit a brick wall with one or two of the early ventures that didn't go right, but he's taking the long view. His brain is different to most, so he will think of it laterally, left, right and center.”