Central China city Wuhan will hold its third international horse racing festival in September, organizers said on Tuesday.

Equestrians from France, Spain, Australia, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China will attend the races and shows, which last eight days from September 17 to 24.

The festival will be held at the Orient Lucky City, the biggest racecourse in mainland China which began operating in 2003.

Horse racing as a sports events and entertainment first thrived in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, in early 1900s after foreign and Chinese businessmen built up the top three racecourses of the country in the city.

But the sports once vanished in the country in about two decades until it again gained attention in early 1990s when national races were held and jockey clubs set up in southern coastal cities. The former two horse racing festivals in Wuhan attracted thousands of spectators.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2005)