Happy Valley Racecourse

This guide to Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong opens on Derby Day, February 26, 1918, an ordinary China Stakes afternoon with the temporary stands packed beyond capacity along the track. It then reaches back further, to the fever swamp British soldiers camped in during 1843, and the malaria that filled this valley with graves before anyone understood mosquitoes were the cause. You'll hear how the swamp became a racecourse in 1846, and what still rings the neighbourhood today. The memorial stone stands behind the east stand, worth a stop before you find your seat.