A report last year quoted Wang Shenshun, deputy head of the Wuhan sports administration, as saying the Wuhan festival was "China's first experiment with commercial horse racing".

People were allowed to place two bets free of charge on any of the four races. The successful "lottery players" were rewarded with 20 instant scratch card lottery tickets. Local Changjiang Daily reported the total cash prizes from the four races amounted to about US$17,500.

And therein lies the rub. Big business is at stake and with that comes employment and profit.

Qin Zunwen, an expert on horse race betting from Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, said a nationwide betting network could sustain 3 million jobs and annual lottery sales could bring in 100 billion yuan, netting 40 billion in tax revenue annually.

Five-star hotels in the vicinity have reacted positively to the expansion of the race track, expecting it to draw in customers for them. Sabrina Ou, public relations manager for the Ramada, said she was invited to sign a contract to provide banquet food for the race track. Tellingly, she commented: "I saw those luxury ballrooms - and windows for selling lottery tickets inside are just the same as those in Hong Kong."

A survey conducted by the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences showed that 83.3 percent of Wuhan residents interviewed believed the introduction of betting would have a positive social impact, reducing black market operations and cutting back on the many numbers of people who traveled abroad to indulge the habit.

A total of 51 percent of respondents said they were "interested" or "very interested" in gambling on the races.

But not everyone is keen. Wuhan worker Huang Yan said the local economy was so dynamic that, as in Guangdong, people might sell or rent their land to enterprises and idle away their hours by gambling.

Then there are the fears of corruption, loan-sharking and money laundering.

However, Liu Shongshan, marketing director of Wuhan Sports Lottery, made the point: "Wuhan has now set up all the necessary equipment and supporting facilities. All we need now is a piece of paper - the official approval."

(China Daily April 27, 2009)