More spectators at Turf Club on race day after news that horse-racing will come to an end
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SINGAPORE - Race day at the Singapore Turf Club (STC) drew more spectators than usual on Sunday, following news that over 180 years of horse racing in the Republic will soon come to an end, with some 3,000 visitors turning up at the club in Kranji.
Punters who were there to place bets on their favourite horses were joined by first-timers at the racecourse, which officially opened in 1999 after the club was relocated from its Bukit Timah location.
Sunday’s race day, which saw 12 races, was the first since the Government announced that the 120ha club would be closed by March 2027
The last race will take place in October 2024, when the 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup will be held.
Mr Lionel Lim, 30, who was at the club for the first time on Sunday, was taking pictures of the horses.
The software engineer said: “I think we only miss things when they’re going away. (The club has) been here for almost 30 years and people don’t even know about it.”
Ms Nicole Lee, 39, who was also there for the first time, told The Straits Times from the front of the stands: “We heard the news and wanted to see the races. We will come again with my parents so they can see (the club) before (it) closes down.”
Her husband Kenneth Ng, also 39, had attended races before the Covid-19 pandemic and said he was shocked to see how spectatorship has fallen since then. “Last time, the seats were packed and it was a lot busier,” lamented the self-employed financial adviser.
STC said Sunday’s visitor numbers represent a 15 per cent increase compared with race days before last Monday’s announcement of the closure.
But the visitor numbers were still far below the club’s peak, and the 30,000 capacity of the five-storey grandstand.
Punters who were there to place bets on their favourite horses were joined by first-timers at the racecourse.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
Dwindling spectatorship at the track was one of the reasons cited for the decision to close the club by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah at a press conference last Monday. The other reason is land constraints, said Ms Indranee, who is also Second Minister for Finance and National Development.
Between 2010 and 2019, the average attendance per race day had declined from about 11,000 spectators to some 6,000, the club said.
When the racecourse reopened to the public in April 2022 as Singapore recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, the average attendance per race day was about 2,600, which is less than half of the average pre-pandemic attendance.
Many of these attendees were regulars like Mr Tan Kian Seng, 65, who was at the parade ring on Sunday to survey the horses before deciding which one to put his money on.
The odd-job worker, who has been attending race days for over 20 years, was saddened about the end of horse-racing in Singapore.
“I don’t like watching races on television or betting online because I like to come and see the horses and their mood on the day. You don’t get this atmosphere when you bet online,” he said.
