Winfried Engelbrecht‑Bresges Urges United Front as Asian Racing Conference Opens in Riyadh

Winfried Engelbrecht‑Bresges used his opening keynote at the 41st Asian Racing Conference in Riyadh to press an urgent case for global unity across racing jurisdictions, arguing that fragmentation, integrity threats and shifting consumer habits threaten the sport’s social licence and long-term health. The conference, held at the Crowne Plaza Riyadh RDC Hotel and Convention Centre under the theme “Honouring Tradition, Shaping the Future,” arrived amid Saudi Cup week and drew roughly 600 to 650 delegates from around the world.

Organisers put the business programme at three days, with the opening session titled “The Evolving Global Racing and Sporting Landscape.” Attendance was described as “about 650 guests from 45 countries” by one report and as “more than 600 guests from around the world” by another, underscoring the conference’s global reach as racing stakeholders gather to debate wagering, breeding, integrity, innovation and welfare.

Engelbrecht‑Bresges, who serves as chair of the Asian Racing Federation and CEO of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and is described elsewhere as chair of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, singled out shrinking foal crops and a swelling race calendar as a structural threat to elite competition. “We don’t see a positive trend among breeding, and as an industry it is concerning. If we want to create global events and we want to create champions, one of the key drivers is that the best horses compete in races, and this promotes our sport,” he said, noting a 35 percent decline in foal production globally since 2005 while the number of Group 1 races has risen by around 6 percent. “The consequences are that we have less champions, because they have opportunities to avoid each other,” he added.

The keynote navigated a broad list of immediate threats. Engelbrecht‑Bresges named the growth of illegal and unlicensed operators, rising competition from sports betting, iGaming and prediction markets, and the challenge of widening the sport’s fan base as priorities. He warned that dissension within the industry is damaging, citing interstate battles in Australia, disjointed efforts in Great Britain and opposition in the United States to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority as examples. He framed the post‑pandemic economic squeeze as a “long COVID” for racing, driven by inflation, high interest rates and changing consumer behaviour, and argued that in some jurisdictions “we need structural change,” pointing to Racing Australia’s federated funding model as a case in point.

Beyond the diagnosis, Engelbrecht‑Bresges advocated a practical prescription: think globally and build a digitalised, coherent global brand to reach younger audiences and concentrate the best horses in headline events. “We don’t compete against each other, we need to adopt global collaboration. We must brand our sport as a global sport and market it globally,” he said.

The conference will test whether that rhetoric can translate into policy. With panels planned on wagering, breeding, integrity and technology across the three-day programme, the ARC in Riyadh is positioned as the forum to decide whether racing will pull together or remain divided. For owners, breeders, jurisdictions and fans alike, the outcomes will shape where champions are prepared, how purses grow, and whether racing can maintain its audience in a crowded entertainment marketplace.