MJCI, Kuok Group sign pact on Cavite racetrack

The Manila Jockey Club, Inc. (MJCI), the country’s premier race club and the oldest horse racing club in the Far East, and KPPI Land Corp. a subsidiary of Kuok Philippine Properties, Inc., formally signed yesterday an agreement for the development of a world-class horse racing facility in Carmona, Cavite.

The agreement was formalized yesterday by MJCI president Alfonso R. Reyno, Jr. and KPPI Land Corp. president Fernando Gaspar in ceremonies at the MJCI Turf Room, following MJCI’s official disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) last Wednesday.

The said agreement covers the development of 77 hectares of property owned by KPPI Land Corp. along Governor’s Drive in Carmona, Cavite, situated south of Southwoods Golf and Country Club, which will become the new site of the existing San Lazaro Hippodrome in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

The said development will center on the construction of a world-class horse racing facility with all the amenities of a modern equine center. MJCI plans to build a world-standard all-weather racing track, as well as turf (grass) track and a training pack. In addition, the club will also set up modern stabling facilities and a quarantine complex in anticipation of the expected arrival of race horses from other countries.

MJCI also plans to allocate a significant portion of the new property for the construction of a leisure and entertainment park, sprawling farm lots for race horse owners, as well as modern hotels and condominiums for club members and guests. This would be in addition to the setting up of a residential complex for direct industry players like horse trainers, jockeys and grooms.

The transfer of the San Lazaro Hippodrome from its present site is expected to pave the way for the development of MJCI’s 17-hectare Sta. Cruz property into a mixed-use real estate development project, as disclosed by MJCI assistant corporate secretary and incoming vice chairman, lawyer Alfonso G. Reyno, III to the Securities and Exchange Commission.