Punters watching the Singapore Derby race on July 21. - Photo: ST file
SINGAPORE: Sixteen months have flown by since the local horse racing fraternity was rocked by news of the Singapore Turf Club’s (STC) impending closure, and like a thief in the night, the dreaded date of Oct 5 (Saturday) has sneaked up on everyone at Kranji with the 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup as its epilogue.
One of the first things that sprang to the minds of trainers and owners when they heard the shocking news on June 5, 2023 was the fate of the 700 horses.
When told that racing would continue till Oct 5, 2024 – the land will be returned to the Government by March 2027 – some were up in arms, while others were undecided on how to proceed.
Some thought it was unrealistic for racing to continue within such a tight deadline and hoped for an extension by another two to three years.
Others thought the place would implode before Oct 5 after an exodus of both humans and equines.
Fielding runners in the next 68 meetings would be a logistical nightmare, they said.
Even if the close-knit racing family put their heads together and pulled it off, post-closure animal welfare remained a thorny issue.
With limited quarantine centres in Malaysia – the destination of choice for Kranji-based horses in normal times – and a cap of eight horses that could be flown to Australia monthly based on their veterinary protocols, a horse traffic bottleneck was feared.
But against all odds and doubters, the club has held the fort, and so have the last 16 (including six expatriates) trainers standing from the original 22, and their steadfast owners.
Staying the course felt to many like those gruelling staying races you can only win by dint of hard work.
Prominent owner Eric Koh and former STC steward knows this first-hand. The business entrepreneur was one of the driving forces behind the tripartite roundtable discussions with the club and the Government, working tirelessly to save racing.
“One of the reasons we were able to run meetings every week even though our horse population was dropping was the opening of new quarantine centres in Malaysia,” said the boss of Team Cheval Stable and racing manager of leading Thai outfit Falcon Racing Stable.
The club led negotiations with the Malaysian authorities to secure the new quarantine facilities.
Koh added: “Early this year, I had many sessions with the club’s stables and facilities department to talk about the backlog when the last meeting comes up.
“Nobody wanted to be the last to board the ship. So we brainstormed a few ideas and explored a few locations in Malaysia.”
Opening up those spaces allowed everyone to breathe better.
From the horse population of 700 – nearly half of the 1,300 at its peak around five years ago – at the announcement, only 240 are now left and ready to go.
On Oct 5, 141 will get the honour of being the last steeds to leave their hoofprints on Kranji’s 2,000m-long turf track.
Shortly after, around 200 will be sent to Malaysia. The other 40 will be air-freighted to France, Hong Kong and Australia.
The faster flow of outgoing horses through ramped-up transport lanes helped ease the pressure of a potential horse overpopulation scenario post-Oct 5.
By the same token, it also created a “no horse run” dilemma which could compromise the continuation of races.
Again, Kranji showed its ability to adapt or perish.
On the one hand, there was a school of thought that a shrinking horse population is indirectly proportional to the share of prize money.
So, some owners decided to make hay while the sun shines.
A stagnating pool of horses is a double-edged sword. If they are not the soundest animals, the law of attrition will shoot up if they keep showing up every other week – the ideal racing frequency is three to four weeks.
Local trainer Mahadi Taib was one of those who thought he would not last. He will field three runners on Oct 5.
The 52-year-old Singaporean, who lost about 25 horses to Malaysia after the announcement, said: “I also started to race my horses more often, like Red Dragon and Operation Tiger. It was not ideal, but I was stuck.
“I had no other choice but to continue training, or how else was I going to repay my loan?”
Mahadi, who was the last trainer to be granted a licence in June 2022, took out a S$180,000 loan to open a stable and buy horses.
He has won 14 races since June 2023, which, based on a trainers’ cut of 6.25 per cent from the prize money, would be around $35,000, plus an estimated $30,000 for place prize money.
After factoring in other incentives as well as overheads and other expenses, Mahadi said he still owes the banks about $120,000.
As the chances of an extension of time dimmed over time, he did what five other Singaporean trainers did – apply for stables in Malaysia.
Across the fraternity, emotions have run the gamut of shock and disbelief to anger and frustration when negotiations for extension of time and compensation stalled.
Acceptance and resignation finally set in, but several decisions along the way have helped sugar the pill and even helped the various stakeholders and community move on.
One such form of assistance extended was the horse exportation subsidies and the optional Horse Expatriation Plan Award (Hepa) of $2,000.
Set as reimbursements at 90 per cent of the costs up to a cap of $12,000 per horse, the subsidies were introduced in November 2023 to gradually export older horses in staggered phases up until Oct 5.
The Hepa sum is split between trainers and owners to ensure an orderly process and incentivise owners to keep racing their horses throughout the 2024 season.
“It was okay for those sending horses to Malaysia. The cost per horse on a truck is only $500, and without surprise, I would say 95 per cent of owners took that option,” said champion trainer Jason Ong.
“But for owners who still think their horses can compete in Australia, they have to pay $25,000 up front and then claim the $12,000 subsidy later.”
Economy of scale did not quite apply to such exportations either, as Koh, who manages dozens of horses for his Thai owners, found out. “The $13,000 top-up is a major deterrent. If you own a lot of horses, like Falcon Racing who owns 10 horses, they had to fork out $250,000 up front,” he said.
Monthly bedding and feed subsidies of $800 per horse, as well as enhanced racing incentive fees (from $250 to $500 per horse, for second up to 10th place), were all major carrots to keep the show on the road.
Outside of the stables, drama was also unfolding.
While the STC personnel of around 350 were informed of the exit strategy planned over three phases until 2027, other staff in the stables – comprising syces (stablehands), track riders, feeders – seemed to have fallen through the cracks.
After many dialogues and meetings with the club, ministries and unions, they were offered the same job placement assistance and training programmes made available to STC staff.
While those close to retirement age, especially syces who have spent almost five or six decades with horses, opted out, many turned up for job fairs on Sept 4 and 18.
“I’ve applied for a job as a zookeeper with the Mandai zoo,” said Rosly Othman, 61, a syce for 44 years, referring to the Singapore Zoo. “I’ve also applied for other jobs as interchange supervisors with SMRT and Transit Tower, but they did not ask for my resume, only Mandai zoo has.
“They asked me which animals I would like to work with and I went with zebras of course, but also giraffes, which are also quite close to horses.”
Some were more proactive, like jockey Zyrul Nor Azman.
Unlike most of his fellow local jockeys who will continue riding in Malaysia, the 36-year-old father of two young daughters decided he would pivot to a totally different trade.
“I love riding, but it would have been too hard to survive if I’m earning Malaysian ringgit and my family is still in Singapore,” he said.
“I didn’t want to bring my family to Malaysia as we’ll be foreigners there. Hospital fees and everything else would be expensive like school fees.”
He juggled riding with a six-month course in safety and health and a 2½-year course in building systems and fire safety at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
He has already started work as an operations manager for a cleaning company, but will still take three rides at the farewell meeting.
“It was tough studying during the day after trackwork, and even tougher when I started the poly night course until 10pm,” he added.
“I’m happy I won the last Polytrack race last Saturday, and am now a small part of history. It’s not over yet, I got three rides on Gold Cup day. It’ll be a sad day, but I’ll be okay as I’ve worked out a way to get on with my life.” - The Straits Times/ANN
