Retire Your Horse

Retirement Policies

Owners can submit Retirement Form to the Club to retire their horses from racing.

Voluntary Retirement

Owners can retire their horse voluntarily.

Compulsory Retirement

Compulsory retirement criteria are determined by the Stewards of the Jockey Club. The current criteria are as follows:

All horses which have reached the age of 11 years.
All horses rated 25 or below at the end of each racing season.
All horses whose veterinary histories indicate that, in the opinion of the Veterinary Officer, they are no longer sound and/or safe racing propositions. This includes horses with one eye or blind of an eye, horses that have been reported to have bled from one or both nostrils on two occasions and horses that have been reported on three occasions to have had an irregular heart rhythm.
All horses foaled in the Southern Hemisphere which will be an 8-year old at the season end and any horse foaled in the Northern Hemisphere which will be a 9-year old at the season end will be required to have a full veterinary examination to determine its suitability to remain in training for the coming season.
All horses which has not raced 12 months or more will be required to pass an official barrier trial and official veterinary examination before it is entered for a race. Unless otherwise permitted by the Stipendiary Stewards in exceptional circumstances, the official barrier trial and official veterinary examination must be conducted jointly as part of the same process.
Any horse which is unruly and which, in the Stewards’ opinion, is unsafe to continue to race.

Retirement Life

All retired horses, except those being exported by their original owners, will be inspected by the Club's veterinary surgeons who will assess their suitability for different retirement options including:

transfer to Beas River Country Club / riding schools for leisure riding;
re-train as a Lead Horse;
donate to organizations in Mainland China or overseas for equestrian or training purposes

Horse Export

Owners can export their retired horses to overseas for retirement, equestrian or breeding purposes. The flow chart below illustrates the activities involved in arranging the exportation of a horse overseas.

Horse Export Flow

Hong Kong

Submit Application for Export of Retired Horse

Download the application form:

Application for Export of Retired Horse (By Owner)
Application for Export of Retired Horse (By Livery Holder)

Pre-export Quarantine *

Shipment to overseas country

Overseas Country

Post-arrival Quarantine *

Leisure Riding / Equestrian / Breeding

* Quarantine period is normally up to one month, depending on the country of destination.

Estimated Horse Export Costs

Air Freight Cost:
New Zealand	NZD18,000 - NZD39,000
Australia (via New Zealand)	NZD22,000 - NZD49,000
United Kingdom	£6,000 - £17,000
United States	US$13,000 - US$34,000

Hong Kong Charges:
Livery Charges since Pre-export Quarantine / Watchman Fees / Drivers, etc	HK$16,480
Vet Charges	HK$5,500
Club Administration Charges	HK$1,950
Hong Kong Custom Charges	HK$1,000
Hong Kong Charges Total	HK$24,930

Note: The costs are subject to number of horses sharing the pallet and the exchange rate at time of travel.

Replacement Permit

There are three kinds of Replacement Permits:

Permit Type	Normal Replacement	Special Replacement		Replacement for the Original Permit
Qualification	(for importing a PP with 63+ HK rating)	1st Time Applicants (for importing a PP with 70+ HK rating)	Others (for importing a PP with 70+ HK rating)
Pre-conditions	Original horse was NOT imported under a Normal or Special Replacement Permit; Retired within 24 months of arrival in Hong Kong; and Did not have more than 15 starts in HKJC races	Each Owner can apply for a Special Replacement Permit only once in every season.		Original horse was retired within 24 months of arrival in Hong Kong; and Did not have more than 10 starts in HKJC races Example: If the original horse was imported under a PPG permit, a Replacement permit for importing a PPG will be granted.
Pre-conditions	Original horse must be exported at Owner's cost, unless the horse is certified not suitable for export by the Club's Veterinary Surgeon Applications must be submitted to the Racing Registry within 2 weeks after the retirement of the original horses
Download	Application Form	Application Form		Application Form

** The Stewards have revised the replacement permit policy whereby Owners of a horse which was imported under a normal permit from the annual Horse Ballot may apply for a maximum of two consecutive replacement permits from this normal import.

The Stewards have also decided that Owners of any replacement horses that are currently in training may apply for a further and final replacement permit upon retirement, regardless of the aforementioned quota limit; and that the same policy will be applicable to all replacement horses yet to be imported under an outstanding replacement permit issued on or before 30 June 2014.

The above changes will become effective from 1 July 2014.

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