The project, covering an area of 70 hectares, is developed by Thien Ma Madagui Racing JSC. Thien Ma in 2004 cooperated with Phu Tho Sports Club in district 11, HCMC, to upgrade infrastructure and manage horse race activities at the Phu Tho course.

In 2007, Lam Dong provincial authorities granted an investment license to Hong Lam Madagui Co Ltd to develop the 335.86 hectare Da Huoai center for raising and training horses for racing and tourism.

After the Phu Tho racecourse shut down in 2011, Thien Ma teamed up with Hong Lam to set up a joint venture, splitting the 335.86-hectare project into three component projects.

Of these, Thien Ma would be the developer of Thien Ma – Madagui racecourse, while Hong Lam would be an investor for the center for horse raising and Hong Lam – Madagui golf course (60 hectare).

Regarding the Thien Ma – Madagui racecourse, the project has been going slowly. According to Nguyen Linh Hoat, deputy chair of Da Huoai district, the investor has to spend too much time on site clearance.

“This is a large project and there is no ‘clean’ land, i.e. the investor has to negotiate with 200 local households for site clearance,” he said.

In March 2023, the project got approval for the 1/500 detailed planning.

According to a Thien Ma representative, at first, the project was designed to cover an area of 69.976 hectares. The company received 59 hectares of clean land, but it failed to negotiate with locals to get the remaining 10 hectares.

Only in October 2020 when the site clearance finished did the company begin following procedures to lease land. 

In May 2022, Lam Dong province released a decision on reducing the area of the project to 67.15 hectares.

The other reason behind the tardiness was the need for procedures for a license to organize horse racing activities with betting.

In 2011, Lam Dong allowed Thien Ma to build a temporary race of 1,200 meters. In 2017, Thien Ma was allowed to organize pilot horse racing for bonus and show horseback riding. 

After Decree 06/2017 and Circular 16/2018 were released, Thien Ma fulfilled procedures to provide additional business of horse and dog racing betting. It also adjusted the horse race to satisfy the standards.

Anh Phuong