Rounding the Bend, Happy Valley Racecourse, 1894

In a century ago, runners at the Happy Valley Racecourse were not thoroughbred, but ponies, which are from the withers shorter than 14.2 hands, or 147 cm. Ponies are excellent working animals because of their outstanding stamina, but offered less excitement in flat racing because of a slower pace. At the time, ponies travelled a long distance along the coast on their own hooves from Mongalia to Hong Kong.