In pre-British times, the Wong Nai Chung valley - Hong Kong Island’s only substantial area of flat arable land - had a number of paddy fields cultivated by the villagers who made their homes there.  After the British came troops were bivouacked on the fields, which interfered with the drainage. The water that had formerly drained away was left lying about after the fields were no longer cultivated, and mosquitoes bred there in large numbers. This in turn encouraged the rapid spread of virulent strains of fever, which claimed many lives, especially among the military encamped in the valley.

In 1846 the cultivators were finally bought out and resettled, the fields cleared and drained and a ring-road put around the valley for recreational purposes - precursor of today’s modern racetrack.  Due to its fever-prone reputation and relative distance from the urban area the picturesque hillsides around the racecourse remained sparsely settled for decades, with only a few isolated houses and the cemeteries strung out around the lower ridges.