Singapore: Trainers reminisce as racing ends

Cover image courtesy of the Singapore Turf Club

To reflect on the highs and challenges of racing at Kranji, The Thoroughbred Report caught up with three seasoned trainers — Michael Kent, Cliff Brown, and Dan Meagher — all of whom have made Singapore their base at various points over the years. They share their memories, emotions, and hopes as the curtain closes on this storied chapter.

Michael Kent - 'They were great days'

“They were great days,” Michael Kent enthused as he looked back at his time in Singapore, remembering the camaraderie shared by those working firstly at Bukit Timah and later at Kranji.

“We were all competitors on the weekends but friends during the week everyone had a great rapport,” he said, considering himself lucky to have been part of the Singapore racing scene at a time when “it was huge.”

“Singapore racing has such a great history and back when I started there it was bigger than Hong Kong which was seen as a second-tier racing jurisdiction.”

“Racing was a circuit then; we’d race on Saturday and Sunday for two weeks at Kuala Lumpur, then it would be Singapore, Ipoh and Penang. And there would be 60 to 70,000 people there at every meeting.”

“Singapore always had the best run meetings and there was always the idea that they should go out on their own.”

When the nipah virus hit in 1999; one which spread through pigs and humans, causing over 100 deaths, the border between Singapore and Malaysia shut, giving the Singapore Turf Club the impetus to go it alone.

Singapore's international races

It was, Kent said, under the now Hong Kong Jockey Club-based Greg Carpenter that Singapore racing really started to take off with the implementation of the international races in which a number of Australian horses such as Takeover Target (Celtic Swing {GB}), North Boy (Rory’s Jester) and Mummify (Jeune {GB}) fared well.

“It was a big deal, we had horses and jockeys from around the world taking part.”

Kent’s favourite moment training in Singapore was taking out the first million dollar Singapore Gold Cup in 1999, the first time a race meeting had been attended by a Prime Minister with Goh Chok Tong presenting the trophy.

The horse, Carry The Flag (GB) had arrived in Singapore with consistent UK form but bad feet, Kent deciding that the son of Tenby (GB) would be well suited to glue-on shoes.

“Just a couple of weeks before the race he was severely lame,” Kent recalled, “and he needed glue-ons but our farrier didn’t have any, the only stable with them was Malcolm Thwaites.”

At the time there was a ‘nemesis’ type relationship between Thwaites and Kent so instead of asking himself for a favour, Kent sent his foreman over to his rival’s stables.

“He pleaded a welfare issue, he told him our horse was crippled without the shoes and after saying no originally, Malcolm relented.”

A great memory

“If looks could kill!” is how Kent describes Thwaites as he stood in the second horse’s stall after Carry The Flag flashed home late to defeat the race’s short-priced favourite Ouzo (NZ) (Oregon {USA}), trained by Thwaites!

“That’s a great memory,” Kent laughed.

Kent remembers each race day being so big that “you could hear the crowd’s roar a kilometre away.”

“Gambling is a big part of Chinese culture,” he said, “and they absolutely loved racing.”

Like everyone else enjoying Singapore racing’s peak days, Kent could never have envisaged the entire sport coming to an end though the early signs were there when Bukit Timah closed down in 1999.

“There was a period where land prices had soared,” Kent explained, “and the government was so strong, they just decided to take it.”

Turnover drops

Kranji filled that void for years as Singapore racing continued to flourish, thanks not only to local interest but also the government’s tolerance of that form of gambling whilst opposing casinos.

But a new Prime Minister, Lee Sien Loong took the reins in 2004 and approved casino operations on the grounds of boosting tourism with money flowing out to nearby countries who had already legalized casinos.

Before then the Singapore Turf Club and the government run Singapore Pools were the only legal forms of gambling and with the opening of casinos, turnover on racing dropped; setting in motion the downfall of racing.

The closure of Singapore racing brings one particular memory back for Kent, recalling that the older generations of racegoers were convinced that Kranji was going to be unlucky for the sport.

“Kranji was built over a large drain, and I remember those who believed in feng shui saying that racing there would fail as the water was not flowing the right way in order to ensure prosperity!”

Kent hopes that Malaysia will pick up the slack with its tracks presenting good surfaces. “It just needs some good management and racing can take off there.”

Cliff Brown: a happy 12 years in Singapore

It was a very happy 12 years that Cliff Brown spent in Singapore, the trainer who had enjoyed plenty of success in Victoria before heading to his Kranji base, finding the day to day running of the racing industry much to his liking.

“It was fantastic, the infrastructure was brilliant; we had great stuff and good owners,” he said, adding that the hours were also appealling.

“The track didn't open till 6.30 so we didn't start work until six. I think that was a massive thing, people were just far less likely to burn out.”

Cliff and his wife Jo also enjoyed their time away from the track, in fact they were smitten from the get-go; “as soon as we got off the plane we fell in love with Singapore,” he said.

“It is such a vibrant, happy place and it was a great opportunity to live and work there.”

“You hear all the clichés about Singapore, it is clean and safe but that is true. It was a fantastic place to raise the kids.”

All was going along well (Brown before then envisaging himself remaining in Singapore until his retirement) until COVID hit, Cliff and Jo separated from their eldest children (Harvey and India at university in Australia) for nine months.

And the Singapore racing industry took a hit, the number of races decreasing which had detrimental effects on the way Cliff ran his training business.

Racing's biggest enemy

It was not COVID that he feels had the biggest impact however, racing's biggest enemy the opening of the casinos and poor management.

He is a strong believer that Singapore racing could've survived and flourished beyond COVID and casino competition had things been better managed.

“You could see it coming for a long time with the casinos, turnover dropped and management did nothing about it.”

“This definitely could've been averted," he said, discussing the closure of the Singapore racing industry, a decision which he describes as “very, very sad.”

Like many he is cynical about the official reasoning of Kranji's land being required for housing, noting that the previous track at Bukit Timah was closed in 1999 with the same reasons given; and it was only at the end of last year that the land was cleared with a view of starting work.

Brown was disappointed by the Singapore Turf Club's lack of initiative when it came to attracting new racegoers, unconvinced by the argument that 'young people aren't interested.'

“You only have to go to Flemington and see all those young people down near the finishing line, they are desperate to be a part of it. Why not wander down there with a clipboard and sign them all up to discount memberships?”

“Then you'd have them coming to every meeting and they'd bring their friends.”

Brown's Horse of the Year

Brown was in the top 10 trainers nearly every season in Singapore where he saddled up over 570 winners. He was the first Kranji trainer to win five Group 1 races in a single season and he looks back fondly on some of his best horses.

Such as Debt Collector (NZ) (Thorn Park), the Windsor Park bred gelding purchased by Brown at the 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale for $120,000.

He won 12 races, earning the titles of Singapore Horse of the Year, Champion 3YO, Champion Miler and Champion Older Horse.

The Inferno (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who accompanied his trainer back to Australia, winning the 2021 G2 Ian McEwen S., also did a great job with his nine wins also seeing him crowned Singapore Horse of the Year.

As well as Champion 2YO, Champion 3YO and Champion Sprinter. And judging by a nice jump-out win at Caulfield a few weeks ago, there is still more to come from the 8-year-old who was in consistent form in good races over the autumn.

Brown has transitioned nicely back into the Victorian racing scene, noting that “we have had a Group winner each year for the three years since we got back.”

“People say I must've seen the end of Singapore racing coming,” he said, “but whilst I could see it diminishing there was no way I could ever have predicted it closing down altogether,” he said.

Dan Meagher: Singapore career drawing to a close

Dan Meagher has spent much of his life in Singapore, firstly enjoying precious time with his now unwell father John between 2000 and 2010 and since 2015 training in his own right.

In between those times based in Queensland with his father and brothers Chris and Paul, Meagher has cherished his time in Singapore with one particular memory a stand out; his first winner Lim’s Action (NZ) (Any Suggestion).

“My first runner was a winner; my good friend Danny Beasley rode him and Dad was there, I have a big photo of that day.”

That win was not just important in that it gave Meagher a kick along to his training career, but also because his father, trainer of the 1985 G1 Melbourne Cup winner What A Nuisance (St Puckle {GB}), has dementia and that day was “one of the last times he was here.”

Meagher also has special memories of three outstanding horses who between them raced 48 times, winning 38 races including 16 Singapore Group 1 races. Crowned 2022 and 2023 Horse of the Year, Lim’s Kosciuszko (Kermadec {NZ}) was bred by Trelawney Stud out of the Listed Welcome S. winner Jacquetta (N) (Keeper {NZ}).

Lim's horses heading to Pakenham

The winner of 22 of his 29 starts, the 7-year-old has been in flying form in recent months and is one of the six ‘Lim’s’ horses owned by Lim Siah Mon due to join Meagher at his new stables at Pakenham.

“His career is probably coming to an end,” Meagher said, not confident that there is any more improvement in the classy gelding but looking to such races as The Quokka and the G1 Stradbroke H. for him.

“We took him to Hong Kong last year and he was beaten 6l by Golden Sixty with five Group 1 winners behind him,” he said, hopeful that that sort of form will measure up in Australia.

Whilst that horse has been campaigning successfully since early 2011, Lim’s Saltoro (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) kicked off his career in September last year and has been beaten (both times in the placings) only two times in twelve starts.

“I am not sure exactly where he is at in regards to Australian form,” Meagher said, “but he is a horse still on the up. He is a very good horse and I am sure he will measure at Group level.”

Bred by Onyx Thoroughbreds, Lim’s Saltoro hails from a high-class international family, one which has produced the outstanding stallions Rock Of Gibraltar (USA) and Riverman (USA).

Meagher is grateful to Lim Siah Mon for sending horses to Australia, noting that “it is not going to be as fun for him not going to the races.”

The 2021 Singapore Horse of the Year Lim’s Lightning (Lope De Vega {Ire}) bred by the Tipper family out of the stakes placed Wayne’s Gold (Golden Snake {USA}) was the first of Meagher’s special trio of horses to prove himself at the elite level, now retired having won 12 of his of 27 starts.

Melbourne, a big move

Winning each of Singapore’s major events, Meagher also made a life raising his young family with wife Sabrina (nee Kadir, a former jockey) and the move to the Melbourne is a big one for them.

“At first they were worried about it,” Meagher said though they are now looking forward to what his oldest son Caiden describes as “an adventure.”

“He is racing crazy and once I told him that he could follow me around at the races carrying the saddle, he became a whole lot happier about the move,” Meagher said, looking forward to recreating the memories he had doing the same for his father.

Children are not allowed to attend the races in Singapore and it is the lack of engagement with the upcoming generations that Meagher thinks is a major reason for the downfall of racing in the area, along with a lack of government support.

“All the people who really made racing, who were so enthusiastic about it during its big days have passed on and the young ones don’t even know that racing is on,” he said, pointing out that by law racing is not allowed to advertise in Singapore.

“So how are you supposed to get it out there?”

Meagher enjoyed not only the Singapore lifestyle; “it is safe, green and clean” but also “the easy access to the rest of the world. We are in the middle of everything.”

And he appreciates the family ties to the history of Singapore, his grandfather a POW at the notorious Changi camp whilst his great uncle died during the occupation.

Meagher admits to being “angry and upset” when he first heard that Singapore racing would come to a close, his mood mellowing into disappointment and now “just sadness.”

“We have a lot of good friends coming up for the last day’s racing,” he said, not expecting to experience the meeting as a celebration; “I think it will feel more like a funeral,” he said.