Malaysia poised to take on Singapore horses and trainers as fallout from shock news continues

Malaysia’s Selangor Turf Club could take up to 300 of Singapore’s horses when the city state’s racing industry is shut down next year as some of Kranji’s trainers already look to the neighbouring jurisdiction to continue their careers.

The fallout from Monday evening’s sudden decision that the Singaporean government would reclaim the 120-hectare Kranji site has been swift, leaving trainers, jockeys and stable staff in a state of disbelief and scrambling for alternative places to work.

The last race meeting in Singapore, which currently has a pool of 716 horses in training, is scheduled for October 5, 2024.

Selangor Turf Club chief executive officer Mike Fong on Tuesday night told ANZ Bloodstock News that the Kuala Lumpur racing centre had already fielded inquiries from trainers and owners about moving their businesses and horses to the Malaysia capital.

“Since yesterday we have received a few inquiries from the trainers, from the owners asking about what composition we are looking at,” said Fong. 

“We did receive a few requests about trainers coming in and we do have some Malaysians training in Singapore, so we are looking at the possibility of some of them coming back and training here, and some expats also made inquiries [since the announcement].”

Fong and Selangor Turf Club chairman Tan Sri Richard Cham on Tuesday conducted a survey of their racecourse training facilities, identifying areas where additional stabling could be constructed to house the likely influx of Singapore horses and trainers.

Fong said: “We have slightly more than 600 [horses in training currently], so just now we walked around the stables with our chairman and identified a few areas where we can increase by 200 stables if we really want to accommodate this surge in our horse population.

“The other thing that we need to consider is that this could be a knee-jerk reaction and whether that number can be sustained. 

“If we build [stables] now for that number and then after a couple of years the horse population starts to drop, we have to work out how to make this a sustainable business for the Selangor Turf Club.

“We are looking at our wagering, our international partnerships and also our stake-money to make it attractive enough for people to come here and race their horses.”

Selangor’s racing, which is simulcast to Australia, New Zealand, India, Macau, the US, Ireland, the UK and Turkey, will still be bet on by Singapore punters through Singapore Pools, but Fong revealed the Malaysian club would look at hosting night meetings in order to cater for the additional horse population if it eventuated.

The Kuala Lumpur climate also made Selangor an ideal night-time racing venue which would also tie in well with Western Australia’s time zone and capture the late-night recreational punting dollar from simulcast countries.

Fong said: “Before, Singapore used to race at night and it is very important for us as Singapore was a big chunk of our revenue, so that will be a big loss to us as well.”

Management from Selangor Turf Club, including Fong and chairman Tan Sri Cham, also met with representatives from the Singapore Turf Club on Tuesday over Zoom to discuss the fast-approaching shutdown of the 180-year-old industry in the Lion City.

Tan Sri Cham made it clear to Singapore officials that their Malaysian peers respected the government’s decision to reclaim the valuable parcel of land where the Kranji racecourse sits.

“What they told us is more or less what’s in the press,” said Fong. 

“They did try hard to at least extend the deadline to 2026 but unfortunately they couldn’t do that as the government had already decided to do this.”

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