The final chapter of Macau’s once-thriving horse racing industry is being written, as the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) confirmed the relocation of 177 horses to Doumen in Zhuhai following its closure. The transfer, carried out in five batches since April 2024, is part of an official agreement requiring all 289 horses to be rehomed by March 2025.
The decision follows MJC’s termination of its contract with the Macau SAR Government last year, ending more than three decades of local horse racing operations. While 177 horses have found a new home through Jinping Horses Company, a firm specializing in equine quarantine and relocation, the fate of the remaining 112 horses remains unclear.
The closure of the racetrack is emblematic of the deeper crisis facing Macau’s equine and racing industries. Once a glamorous part of the city’s leisure landscape, horse racing has struggled to compete with booming casino revenues and shifting public interests.
Now, as the last horses leave Taipa, the track stands as a fading monument to a bygone era. Stakeholders across the region are calling for new strategies to preserve equestrian culture in Greater China—before it vanishes altogether.
