The club and the government recently agreed on the need to reform the way horse racing is taxed in a bid to boost turnover and, consequently, government revenue. As part of the package, the club is seeking to extend its racing season by five days.

Should Legco agree to this package, then the number of race meetings each year will go up from 78 to 83, meaning that the club may need to expand its horse population and this would not only require extra stabling but also more land to accommodate stable hands and other services.

The expansion of meetings in itself will not necessarily increase revenue, as was proved in the 1999-2000 season when the club increased the number of racedays from 75 to 78.

But this time the club is banking on the extra racedays as well as the different taxation system to rescue the club's operations which is becoming more reliant on football gambling and Mark Six. They accounted for nearly 30 percent of gambling revenue this year.

The senior official told The Standard that if the package was passed, the club will require new stables at Sha Tin and the ones being built for equestrian events could cater for this expansion.

Hong Kong's mechanism of purchasing horses is rigid due to the limited space to hold them.

The concrete jungle has no more than 1,400 stables for competing horses, most of which are situated on one side of the Sha Tin racetrack. There are a few more quarantine stables near the Sports Institute for visiting horses during international race meetings.

The Jockey Club each year allows the import of about 300 horses to replace those that have been retired or have become non-racing propositions, but would-be owners need first to get permission to own a horse and the number of requests each year far exceeds the number of available permits. Should the racing season be extended the club would, ideally, need at least another 100 stables.

According to the source, the 200 stables to be built for the Olympic equestrian events could provide the solution for the club which is also pushing for more international races.

At last Friday's press conference, during which officials lauded the International Olympic Committee's decision to grant Hong Kong hosting rights, Jockey Club chairman Ronald Arculli said it was part of the IOC's idea that Olympic sports venues be kept sustainable and usable by the people in the host country.

As such, Arculli said, the club is discussing with the government the acquisition of two soccer pitches and a golf driving range inside the Hong Kong Sports Institute.

The plot of land is about 430,400 square feet and, according to Arculli, underused.

But the Hong Kong Elite Athletes Association's Malina Ngai said athletes would like to use the land to expand the 25-year-old sports training venue in Sha Tin.

``Athletes are disappointed that even before we thought of how to use the land there is talk that it may be given to others,'' she said.

She said the golf range can be turned into new gymnasiums and hostels for athletes while the soccer fields could be leased out to generate income for the institute.

Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge arrived in Hong Kong Sunday for a three-day visit to the territory.

At a press conference, he said he was confident of Hong Kong's ability to host the equestrian events on behalf of Beijing which gave up its rights to do so because of ``uncertainties'' with equine diseases and ``major difficulties in establishing a disease-free zone.''

Rogge said it would have been ``very difficult or impossible'' for Beijing to host the event.

But he said Hong Kong needs to adapt its facilities, with special regard to transportation and accommodation.

According to the president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, Timothy Fok, Rogge will be meeting Chief Executive Donald Tsang today and will also visit equestrian facilities during his visit.

Yu Zaiqing, vice-president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, said the locations of a few venues, which were to have been built near the Olympic Village, have been relocated to university campuses so that students and other citizens can use them after the games.

He said ``adjustments'' are being conducted with limited budgets so that the games will be less expensive.

dennis.chong@singtaonewscorp.com