Hong Kong Racing, the Facts: The courses

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00:00Sha Tin and Happy Valley, Hong Kong's two racecourses, are at the core of what makes

00:05Hong Kong racing so special.

00:07Unique from each other in their own ways, yet together, so quintessentially linked to

00:12the city's character and charm.

00:14Happy Valley was built in the mid-19th century.

00:17It survived a major fire and multiple renovations, and sits as the brightest of lights on a Wednesday

00:23night, the regular evening for racing at the venue, in the hub that is known as the Wan Chai

00:28Districts.

00:30Happy Valley is the smaller, tighter of the two tracks, and less than a mile to get around

00:34a lap.

00:35You'll find the inside drawers there are often a solid advantage.

00:40Sha Tin, on the other hand, represents the new Hong Kong.

00:42Located in the new territories and built in the late 1970s, it too has had multiple renovations

00:48and can now cope with an 85,000-strong crowd.

00:52It superseded Happy Valley as the international track of Hong Kong, and now holds all the

00:56major race days in the region, including the world-famous International Day held in

01:00December that sees the best in the world compete there.

01:03With a circumference of almost a mile and a quarter, it's an extremely spacious and

01:07fair circuit, with capacity fields of 14, often the case on its regular weekend meetings

01:12held mainly on Sunday afternoon, local time.