Veteran Ipoh trainer P.K. Leong dies at age 81
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Trainer Leong Poh Keong (centre) with trainer Peter Lee (left) and former Penang Turf Club chief vet Dr Ho Boon Chan in April 2025.
PHOTO: PETER LEE/TURFONLINE
IPOH Veteran trainer Leong Poh Keong has died in Ipoh at age 81 after a short illness.
Based in Ipoh, Leong has saddled 622 winners in 46 years of training, albeit without any feature winners. He trained mostly in Ipoh, and occasionally ran his horses in Penang meetings in the last two years.
With just four runners left under his care, Leong’s most recent wins came in the form of a double with Kipeh and Fast And Super at the Ipoh meeting on Jan 11.
The same Kipeh was his last runner on May 31, when he ran unplaced in a Class 5A race (1,200m) in Penang. That was also the final meeting at the Batu Gantong track that marked the closure of the 161-year-old Penang Turf Club.
Leong began his career in the racing industry as a jockey in the 1960s. He competed and held his own against mostly expatriate riders in both Malaysia and Singapore.
After hanging up his boots, Leong was granted his trainer’s licence in 1979.
Despite his old age and suffering from dementia, the Malaysian handler was a regular at the races until recently.
Ipoh-based trainer Peter Lee, a former jockey who has ridden for Leong, remembers him fondly. Lee booted home his last winner as a jockey for Leong in 1986, two years before he started training in 1988.
“He retired from the saddle well before me. My last winner as a jockey before I hung up my boots was on a horse called Instant Reply, trained by Leong,” said the 74-year-old trainer.
“I remember the race vividly. It was in June 1986 at the Jalan Ampang racecourse in Kuala Lumpur and it was raining heavily. So Leong and I went back a long way.”
In the last couple of months, Lee would occasionally bring Leong out to have a meal together.
“Honestly, at times I don’t think he knew who I was, but it was okay,” he said.
“Just the satisfaction of having a meal with an old friend was good enough for me.”
Trainer Deva Raj Subramaniam, who was at Leong’s wake, remembers him as a caring boss.
“I worked for him for 20 years, mostly travelling with his (Leong’s) horses outstation,” he said.
Leong passed away in his sleep in the early morning of Nov 11.
His wake will be held for three days before his cortege leaves for cremation in Ipoh on Nov 13.
He leaves behind his wife Rina and son Kevin. TURFONLINE
