Asia's Only Harness Track: Not Such a Swift Idea

It was three hours before post time at Asia's only harness track - on the Portuguese island of Macau in the South China Sea. Young stable hands sat around the barn area, talking about horses, politics, girls and inflation. It was 1981.

Out on the first turn, a water truck driven by a young man was making the rounds. Walking on the track were two men. One wore the familiar wide-brimmed straw hat. They methodically zigged and zagged, stooping to pick up little stones that were dropped into pails.

Soon the atmosphere became more exciting. Parimutuel clerks began moving behind the betting windows. Hot steam began rising from the concession stands, and patrons began emerging from the track's escalators and elevators. Within minutes, they were studying their programs, which were printed in three languages - Portuguese, English and Chinese.

As president of the metropolitan New York Harness Writers' Association for five years, I had made it a point to visit the track, which had opened a few weeks earlier. Macau is about 40 miles by boat from Hong Kong. I had reached it on a compact Boeing jetfoil in 55 minutes.

After taking a tour of the track, it didn't take me long to realize that Mr. Yip Hon, its principal backer, might be facing an impossible dream. I couldn't see how the operation could become profitable, since far-off Hong Kong, it was expected, would provide most of its attendees.

Getting to Macau from Hong Kong was no problem. The island could be reached by hydrofoils - which carried about 40 passengers - or by a large ferryboat. The latter jokingly was referred to as the "Slow Boat to China" because the voyage took three hours. Adding to the challenge, however, was the fact that returning to Hong Kong the same night was tough, as the last late boat left Macau before the last race.

Besides, only thoroughbreds raced in Hong Kong. Most of its citizens didn't know a pacer or a trotter from a mule. But they did know about thoroughbreds, the racing of which was one of the city's most popular growth industries at that time. There were two tracks there, one in the middle of the city, surrounded by tall buildings.

I wondered what had led Mr. Yip to believe standard-bred racing could become popular in Macau. I became more convinced it was problematic when I learned there was a staggering problem obtaining horses.

Although standard-breds had once competed in Japan, few on Macau knew anything about them. There hadn't been such a horse on the island, I was told, until Mr. Yip had begun importing them earlier that year from Australia and New Zealand.

But getting them to Macau had been a major problem. A total of 234 standard-breds arrived in the Portuguese colony on the Danish ship Helene Clausen.

Rough seas had buffeted the vessel on its long northeastern journey. The horses had suffered from cuts, scrapes and bruises. It was also found that a number of the trotters and pacers had been underschooled. They needed a lot more training. And, last but not least, was getting the steeds to the track. There wasn't a horse van on the island.

Today, Macau displays plenty of signs of its ancient past - rococo churches fronted by old cannons, winding cobblestone streets lined with stucco houses painted in greens, blues, pinks and lavender.

But racing standard-breds? They're gone. The same track is still operating, but only for one short session each year, and only with thoroughbreds.