The white flag is raised . . . and they're off! Irishman Kevin Connolly looks anxiously through his binoculars as some of the best-bred thoroughbreds in the world pound around a luscious green racetrack at breakneck speed.
However, this eight-furlong contest is not taking place at the Curragh, in Connolly's native Co Kildare, or at any other turf in England or Ireland. The venue this Saturday is the Tongshun Jockey Club, a new racecourse and horse-breeding centre situated just one hour's drive east of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Connolly has never been afraid of a gamble, and while the going was tough, the opening of China's only licensed track this autumn was a dream come true for the determined Tongshun Jockey Club manager.
It took eight years of planning, two years of developing and $30 million to build this state-of-the art racecourse and breeding facility.
While punter facilities are still sparse, the track itself is comparable to some of the best in the world, including the famous Flemington racecourse in Melbourne. An 80,000-seat grandstand is planned for the near future.
The crowds are not yet on the scale of the Curragh or Ascot, with approximately 200 Chinese race-lovers trickling through every Saturday. But having come this far, Connolly and the wealthy Hong Kong businessman behind the venture, Cheng Yung-Pun, have no intention of stopping here.
"In a year's time, we will have races possibly worth between 500,000 to 1,000,000 RMB £50,000 to £100,000," says Connolly, who adds that a Chinese Derby is a possibility down the road.
There is one major difference between the racing game here and at home . . . there's not a bookie or a tote in sight. China's ban on gambling remains the greatest hurdle for the Tongshun Jockey Club to overcome.
After Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China in 1949, all forms of gambling were eradicated with a vengeance.
Connolly dismisses suggestions that, without betting (regarded as the lifeblood of racing), Tonghsun cannot succeed. "For now, we are concentrating on the racing. We are not depending on betting to keep going. We have races for prize money and plan to sell horses as well.
"Obviously, if betting were to happen, it would be a serious draw. The Chinese love gambling. But it is a slow road and we have to tread carefully."
However, in China there is always a way around the rules and racegoers here are permitted a wager of sorts. The Tongshun Jockey Club sells punters a "view and admire" ticket that merely requires you to guess between the odd- or even-numbered horses.
Anyone aged over 18 can risk a minimum bet of 10 yuan (£1) with no apparent maximum. And it is all within the law, because it is regarded as an "intelligence" test rather than gambling.
Racing in China has a long and distinguished history, dating back to the Han dynasty 2,000 years ago. The sport was first developed as a commercial venture in Shanghai in the mid-1800s, attracting huge crowds of expatriates and local Chinese. Foreign diplomats later introduced the "sport of kings" to Beijing and the nearby city of Tianjin, where some of the largest meetings in the world were held.
Enter Mao Zedong's ban on gambling and the sport died a quick death. There have been recent unsuccessful attempts at re-establishing racing in China. A course in nearby Shunyi in Beijing operated for a while before it was closed down last year.
A racing operation in the southern Chinese City of Guangzhou was closed earlier this year after the head of the Guangzhou Jockey Club was charged with corruption and embezzlement of club funds.
Connolly started his racing career with his father, Michael, a trainer in Kildare. Nine years ago, he jumped at the offer of training horses in Macao for Cheng. Connolly moved to the then Portuguese colony (and now a special administrative region of China), with his wife Angela and four sons - Michael, David, Mark and Robert - now aged between 11 and 17.
Cheng dreamed of building a state-of-the-art track and breeding facility in China. "This was always his goal. After three years in Macao, he asked me to move to Sydney in Australia where I did racing and breeding with a view to eventually establishing the China operation." When he arrived here over two years ago, Connolly started from scratch with lots of green space and untrained staff.
More than 1,000 top thoroughbreds were brought over from Australia to get the breeding operations underway.
"The staff never had contact with thoroughbreds before. In fact, many of them, especially the ground staff, had no experience with horses at all.
"It was tough at first but interesting, and the language was a huge barrier. Not too many interpreters in Beijing learn their English with an Irish accent, and that made matters even more difficult!" The venture now employs 650 people, including five top trainers from Australia, Hong Kong, Macao and Ireland. The Irish trainer is Tom Dunne, who left Portlaoise for Australia in 1980.
Tom Dunne's girlfriend, New Zealand jockey Karen Johnstone, was also here at the beginning and her main role has been training local jockeys to race standards. She also races every Saturday.
Horseracing is only one element of the operation here. Connolly hopes to hold the biggest sales of thoroughbred horses in China at the end of this year or early in the New Year. There are 1,600 horses at Tongshun and 600 races have taken place already.
"The location is perfect. We want to get a bit more advanced first before we start marketing. We have some cobwebs to sort out, but every week things are getting easier," says Connolly.
Kevin's wife and sons join him every Saturday at the track. The move to China from Australia has been a big one for the family. "We really like it here and the boys love coming to the track every week. They have a great interest," says Angela, also from Kildare.
The racing commentary is in Chinese and the 200 punters shelter from the searing afternoon sun under umbrellas. Between the races, the punters are treated to classical music. Some of the ladies turn on the style, even managing a hat, Derby-style, for the afternoon.
For the purposes of research, I decided to have a flutter. Evens or odds - it sounds easy enough. But alas, backing the wrong numbers became a feature of the afternoon and after the final race was run, your correspondent left with a lighter pocket.
Meanwhile, Kevin Connolly is convinced Tongshun will flourish and he is looking forward to the day when crowds from all over China and Asia will be flocking here to see some of the finest racing in the world.