Horse Racing in Singapore
Competitive horse racing is the most ancient of human movement. Stats show that Singapore is a country with the sixth highest percentage of foreigners in the world which is 42%, and foreigners make up 50% of the service sector. This makes for the sporting event like horse racing in the county although, it is an island state city.
Singapore horse racing was born in Colonial times. The inaugural race held by Singapore was ‘Singapore Cup’, which took place in early 1843.The Straits Racing Association (SRA) was formed in 1896 to operate and regulate the horse racing in Singapore and Malaysia, which was renamed as the Malayan Racing Association (MRA) in 1961. Malayan Racing Association is an association of four turf clubs. One is the Singapore Turf Cub, where as the three others are in Malaysia which are Penang Turf Club, Perak Turf Club and Selangor Turf Club.
The names of the major racing events that take place in Singapore are the Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m) for middle distance gallopers and the KrisFlyer International Sprint (1200m) for sprinters. Both these races take place on the same day making it a great day of racing. Another big event of the year is the Singapore Gold Cup (2200m) which is held in November. It is the third leg of the Singapore Triple Crown, following the Kranji Mile and the Raffles Cup. Fourth one is the Singapore Derby (2000m) which is held in July for four-year-olds at set weights.
The Singapore Airlines International Cup is a flat horse which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It was first organized in 2000. It is held every year in May at Kranji over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles). It was established as an international event at Kranji Racecourse in 2000. But after then Singapore Derby remained no more international status race, and was restricted to domestic horses only. The event has been sponsored by Singapore Airlines since its inception. It has the prize money of USA $3 million.
The KrisFlyer International Sprint is a left handed Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid May at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore. This race is run over a distance 1200 meters (6 furlongs) and is open to horses age three and older. It currently offers purse/prize money of US$700,000.
The race is named after the title sponsor Singapore Airlines and it is run on the same day as the Singapore Airlines International Cup.
For the first time, in 2001 the Kranji Racecourse hosted the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Sprint. It was raced again the following year as a Group 3 event. The event was not run again until 2008 and the race has continued since then.
The Singapore Gold Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race. It is held annually at the end of November at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore. This race was inaugurated in 1924. On this left-handed course, race is run over a distance 2200 meters (1.37 miles) and is open to domestic horses age three and older.
One of the premier and international level Racecourse in Singapore is the Kranji Racecourse in Kranji. It is also known as the Singapore Racecourse. It is a venue for Thoroughbred horse racing in Singapore. Built and operated by the Singapore Turf Club, it opened in 2000 as a modern replacement for the Bukit Timah Race Course. The official opening of the Singapore Racecourse was done by the President of the Republic of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan. It has two tracks, Long track and a short track. This racecourse is run by Singapore Turf Club.
The Kranji Racecourse hosts a number of important domestic races as well as two major international events, the Singapore Airlines International Cup and the KrisFlyer International Sprint. Some other notable races on this track are Singapore Derby, Kranji Mile, Raffles Cup, Singapore Gold Cup, Lion City Cup, and Patrons’ Bowl.
A typical day meeting on Kranji Racecourse will have anywhere from 9 to 12 races. The locals love their racing and the Singapore Turf Club is the only legalised gambling authority in Singapore. Horse racing betting philosophy is fascinating for the Singapore people, like all other counties in the world.