Dai Nam on course for $100 million race track

According to Huynh Uy Dung, chairman of Dai Nam Joint Stock Company, the complex will be built to accommodate five racing disciplines, including tracks for dog and horse racing, mountain biking, auto racing and motorboat racing, with an international standard platform of 1,500 metres.

Located on an area of 60 hectares within Dai Nam tourism park complex, the track will house 60,000 spectators.

Dung said that he planned to open the track by the year’s end. The track’s service and logistical systems will be built afterwards. It is expected that the number of visitors to the park will increase to approximately five million every year from the current level of two million after the track is put into operation.

The tracks will offer races three times daily every weekday, and six times daily every Saturday and Sunday.

“With the increased living standard of Vietnamese people in recent years, I believe that our track will meet the demand of visitors who love sports,” Dung said, adding that he wanted to revive horse racing in Vietnam, which had been on the decline in recent years, especially after the close of Phu Tho horse racing track.

Dai Nam is currently recruiting and training hundreds of employees for the upcoming track. Last week, more than 500 horse trainers from neighbouring provinces came to Dai Nam to apply for trainer’s licences.

According to Nguyen Phu Yen, deputy director of the Binh Duong Department for Sports and Tourism, Dai Nam track will be an outstanding reason for visitors to come to the province.

Despite the popularity of racing in Vietnam, facilities remain underdeveloped because the sport usually involves betting, which is strictly managed by the government.

Phu Tho horse racing track was founded in Ho Chi Minh City in 1932, but closed in 2011 and replaced by a modern sports training centre.

Two years ago, South Korea’s Vietnam Sports Platform Company planned to build a multi-purpose indoor stadium, which would include the first velodrome cycling track in Hanoi’s My Dinh area to serve the coming ASIAD 18 in 2019. This project was then halted as it did not receive the support of governmental agencies, who felt the track was not an urgent need for the country.

Vietnam Sports Platform Company then brought this model to Ho Chi Minh City’s Rach Chiec sport complex in the city’s District 9, adding an indoor mountain biking course, at the cost of $200 million. This project still has yet to be approved by the local authorities.

There are also several other investors proposing to build horse racing courses in Vietnam. Recently Hong Kong’s Matrix Holding Limited proposed the development of a horse racing complex in the central city of Danang, including a horse race track, a healthcare unit, betting and entertainment services.

Another investor, Australian Golden Turf Club Limited Company, recently received an investment certificate for a $100 million project to develop a race course in the south-central province of Phu Yen. The course includes a grandstand, horse and dog racing tracks, and luxury tourism facilities.