old favourites

Crowds may have dwindled but the Canidrome’s greyhounds are still chasing that elusive rabbit

By Rebecca Lo Translation by amanda Mao & Takako Whilden

Given the media interest created by the casino boom, it would be easy to think that gaming is a relatively recent addition to Macau life. Yet the territory has a long history of gambling that predates even the Hotel Lisboa. One of the last links to this gambling past lies just 3km away from the main strip. However, the contrast with the glamour and glitz of Macau’s burgeoning casino industry couldn’t be more pronounced.

Located in the heart of a working-class neighbourhood, the Macau canidrome (avenida General castelo Branco S/n, +853 2822 1199) is the only professional dog racing club in asia – its closest neighbour can be found in australia. a stone’s throw from the historic Red Market and the Espaco de arte do albergue, the complex is surrounded by low-rise tenements and centuries old banyan trees. in addition to an oval racetrack and stands littered with red plastic seats, the canidrome houses training facilities, administration offices and 11 kennels that can provide accommodation for up to 800 greyhounds.

When it opened in 1931, crowds flocked to the canidrome, but racing was suspended six years later following Japan’s invasion of china. During its 25-year racing hiatus, the track served as a temporary safe haven for political refugees..

When it finally reopened in 1963, it was under the ownership of Stanley Ho, who turned the canidrome into an exciting and profitable business venture. crowds flocked to the track, with ferries full of punters arriving from Hong Kong eager to get their gambling fix. For the Macau government, the canidrome’s investors, the dog owners and the fans, it was a win/win situation.

Danny Osmund worked for Ho from 1987 to 1999 as the canidrome’s general manager, retiring just prior to Macau’s handover. Loyal staff members still pronounce his name with respectful reverence and refer to his decade overseeing the complex as ‘the Osmund years’. “He was a very kind man – a very generous boss,” recalls 64-year-old Vong iu Tong, who first started with the canidrome aged 19 and is currently the trainer for kennel six. “a handsome man who sported a small moustache.” now retired and an avid bridge player living in australia’s Gold coast, Osmund recalls the changes he implemented in order to bring the local enterprise into the 21st century. “i’m very proud of the canidrome,” he says in between bridge tournaments. “i brought greyhounds and trainers from australia to Macau. i was a member of the Hong Kong Jockey club and we used its facilities to test the dogs’ urine for doping. if a dog performed too well, he was tested for doping. When i first joined, it was really dilapidated. i gave the whole place a facelift. i was friendly with Macau’s governor and asked him if he’d like us to hold a derby in his honour. He was over the moon! On derby nights, we used to pull in 80,000 people. Then, the asian financial crisis hit. i said to the Macau government that if it didn’t remove the tax on the canidrome, it would close.”

Though Osmund almost single-handedly saved the canidrome from certain demolition, it’s people like Tong who keep the canidrome alive today. Tong got into the business after growing up with dogs in his family – “it just seemed like the natural thing to do and not really like work”. Today, he oversees a staff of six and a typical day begins at 7am, when he heads over to the complex to begin exercising the greyhounds. With race nights on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, most of his days are spent making sure his staff train the dogs properly. Each of the 10 kennels contains between 70 to 80 dogs; there’s also a training kennel for new arrivals. Tong’s day is filled with dog-related activities such as overseeing their laps in the specially designed greyhound swimming pool, bathing them and feeding them up for optimal performance and aesthetic appeal – greyhounds have been known to reach speeds of up to 72 km/h in under two seconds.

On race nights, the trainers bring dogs out to the track every 15 minutes for the 18 races per night. Each race consists of between six to eight dogs in numbered jackets competing against each other around varying lengths of the track. all of the action is recorded on film and broadcast live on cable channel 19 in Hong Kong. The greyhounds are first presented on a sandy platform for fans to place their bets and then ushered into starting cages with automated doors. Once the race begins, their sleek forms speed around the course after a lure (a mechanical dummy hare or rabbit). after they cross the finish line, trainers draw a curtain within a section of the field to fence them in and then brings them back to their kennels. Each dog only races once per night.

One unique aspect of greyhound racing is that the male dogs race regularly against female dogs despite the bitches being lighter and smaller than the males. in fact, bitches often win. “Female greyhounds tend to be smarter,” reveals connie Kong, the canidrome’s membership officer. “all things being equal, females win because of their strategic approach to the race.”

Greyhound owners tend to be mostly from Hong Kong and Macau, although Kong admits that she’s seeing more purchasers from Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines. “When we get a new dog, we first list it on our programme and people can choose which one they would like to buy,” says Kong. “Then, on Sunday race nights, the dogs are presented for auction. Sometimes a well-fancied dog will fetch a price of up to MOP80,000. The owner then gets to select the name of their dog and which kennel they would like the dog to be placed in. This is determined by a number of factors, such as the kennel’s win record or trainer. Or maybe the owner has friends with dogs in a particular kennel.”

“The dogs arrive in Macau around the age of 24 months,” notes Tong. “They are already racers at the time, so all we have to do is make sure they adjust to the different climate of Macau [in comparison to australia] and different environment. usually within one month, they can compete in their first race.”

Like Osmund, Tong is very vigilant towards compliance. “To be fair, every dog has exactly the same diet,” he says. Though the total number of dogs has dropped from its height of 800 during Osmund’s tenure to between 600 and 700, their daily routines are the same. From the time of arrival to when they can no longer race at their optimum level – usually a span of 60 months – the greyhounds live out their lives at the canidrome.

“it’s a great tourist attraction,” says Osmund. “You go in there and you don’t need to know anything about dogs. it is a sport that’s affordable to every pocket.”