FORMER NYRA EXEC NADER ENJOYING HONG KONG
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Ray Paulick: Bill, can you briefly describe your responsibilities at the Hong Kong Jockey Club?
Bill Nader: As executive director, I oversee all racing operations, and that extends to the laboratories, veterinarians, farriers, grooms, work riders, handicappers, racing stewards, racing registry, marketing, public affairs and also the international races. It’s a big operation. There are about 1,800 people reporting directly or indirectly to me, and we have tremendous people in the key positions from all over the world, from Hong Kong, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
What’s the best part of your job?
The popularity of the sport makes it contagious and gives you a reason to want to get up every day. There’s never a dull day. It’s the major sport in Hong Kong. There are single events that may be bigger, but in terms of something sustainable over the course of the year racing is the only game in town. One example: circulation of a daily newspaper increases by 30% on a race day.
Your biggest challenge?
The ability for us to grow. It’s one thing to get where we are and sustain our position, but to take it to the next level. We think we can do that, but we need government support. We have 78 race meetings and we have to guarantee HK$8 billion (about US$1 billion) in revenue to the government. My two years have been lucky, we’ve been up in turnover. We’ve been able to grow from HK$60 billion in handle to HK$68 billion last year. Tax rate effectively is 73% of gross margin, before we pay prize money or overhead. We can only simulcast 10 single races per season and want to expand that but have been unsuccessful so far. There’s limited stabling and no breeding industry, so no room to expand. We have an active population of just over 1,100 horses. To get through 735 races, 90% of the races on turf, with those horses, it’s a challenging process.
What is the major difference between working at NYRA and working for the Hong Kong Jockey Club?
Resources. Not just money but the depth of personnel at top levels all the way down. The Hong Kong Jockey Club is arguably the most professionally run racing organization in the world. It’s a finely tuned machine. Its can-do spirit is really evident day by day taking tough assignments and meeting the challenge, whether it’s working on the Olympic Games or the international races. The work ethic here, too, is amazing. Our employees work 11 or 12 hour days and won’t go home until they feel their job is done.
What do you miss the most about the U.S.?
I miss a lot. Italian restaurants, sports, Broadway shows. There are no major league sports here. Overall there’s a lot of good things about Hong Kong, so it’s a trade-off.
I don’t have a lot of it. During the 10 months of the racing season, we’re fortunate to get one day off a month.
What do you know today you didn’t know before you came to Hong Kong?
It’s been amazing. It opens your eyes to come and see racing presented in a different system. The whole approach is different. You learn by just opening your eyes. I learned early on not to jump to any conclusions and get a feel for the methodology that’s employed in this part of the world. A lot of things done here we can’t duplicate back in America.
The position on medication is interesting. Talking to our vets, all of the countries in the Asian Racing Federation with the exception of Saudi Arabia have no medication. We have horses that run back in a week, sometimes in three days, no Bute, no Lasix, no medication. Even 2-year-olds in the States that run on Bute and Lasix, I wonder now if any of that is necessary. In this part of the world the climate can be tough, yet horses run as often or more often as they do in the states. America needs to take a hard look at medication policies.
Have you made any cultural faux pas in your new home?
I’ve been very careful, though I was a little sloppy with my chopsticks at first. I have learned some customs. The number 8 is lucky, 28 is lucky. Four is death. In fact in a lot of office buildings if you get on a lift there is no fourth floor.
Any message for the racing public in the United States?
The message would be that they try to open up and appreciate racing from this part of the world, much like I wish Asian people would appreciate American racing. When I got here in late April 2007, there was very little interest in the Kentucky Derby. It was a major event, and this is a horse loving part of the world, yet the biggest interest was that the queen was going to attend the Derby. There was no interest in the horses.
The message goes both ways. The only way that’s going to happen is if we can get commingled pools so that people can see it and appreciate it. It’s important for people to really appreciate racing here as we do there. Both sides have so much to offer.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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