Entree Kibbles: Singapore Turf Club - Photo Journey in July 2023

The above, taken from the forum page (dated 6 May 2024) of The Straits Times, served as a reminder that I would need to quickly tidy up the photographs of Singapore Turf Club, as they had been stored untouched since almost a year ago!

As many of you (specifically Singaporeans) are aware, the government had made the decision to close the only horse-racing club in Singapore and you only have a few months to go before the last race, said to be 5 October 2024.

A waste of money in my opinion as the club moved over in year 1999 from its former premises at Bukit Timah and cost 500 million dollars to build then. However, it's hard to ignore the ever increasing need for land space in our little red dot, and the fact that horse racing doesn't attract as much crowd as it did in the past.

With over 140 photographs, this shall be more a photo post for memory sake as I am not here to petition the government's decision, which I believe would have been thought through thoroughly for national interests.

Let's now start from the beginning - taking the train from Yishun towards Kranji MRT station. It's a familiar station for me as it's a popular stop for those taking buses to the Woodlands Checkpoint, where we can cross over to Malaysia.

Entrance of Singapore Turf Club, installed with the humongous logo which had three horses racing with each other. As each of them was a copy with different colors, it gave the illusion that two of them were shadows.

Admission fees applied; but unlike most Singapore attractions, it's an affordable S$6.00 if you pay via EZ-Link or NETS FlashPay, or S$8.00 by cash. And I am sorry, this is not a kid-welcome establishment as you need to be 18 years and above to be allowed in.

Red Numbers - commissioned by Mr Vincent Leow, a Cultural Medallion recipient, it's a beautiful artwork that reflects the obsession that Singapore Chinese has with lucky numbers. Even I would participate in this lottery known as 4D just to try my luck, hoping to gain a small windfall.

Following the orangy yellow sheltered passage to the ginormous Grandstand.

Racing Gold Card - costing S$400 a year, it gave you free admission to the Grandstand Level One, complimentary admission to Grandstand Level 3 during birthday month and 10% discount for dine-in at Grandstand Level during birthday month.

Seeing a crowd on the right side, curiosity drove me to take a closer look. Such typical Singaporean behavior with even a term associated with it called kaypoh, which means nosy.

Parade Ring - where competing horses for the next race would be brought along a circular track, where punters would observe the physical condition of the horses and determine if it's worth betting for. It's almost like a fashion show for horses.

More photographs.

Large display in the middle highlighted information about the horses, including the odds for the various horse racing bet types. To be honest, despite explanation by the Greatest Kon, I still don't get it. Easier for me to go back to Toto and 4D!

Same screen also showed the name of the jockey, the name of the horse, and weight. You would have to make a calibrated effort to determine if a light jockey would make the horse run faster although there are numerous factors contributing to the speed of a horse.

Passage from Parade Ring to the main competing racecourse, where the horses and jockeys would proceed to race shortly after. This is literally the last moment for you to soak in what you see, evaluate your choice and place your bet!

Aside from the racing horses, the jockeys, the handlers, other groups of people allowed within would be the horse owners and their guests. No wonder some were dressed to the nines.

Proceeding up to level two to check out what's in store for commoners like me. Boy were the rubberized handrails of the escalators dirty!

Elevated tier on level two, overlooking the Parade Ring.

Less crowd to jostle with but honestly a bit too far. However, should the turf club be super crowded that day, it's possible for the punters to spill over to this level too.

Some would also use binoculars to check out the conditions of the horses!

Professional max and I can understand why some punters argue that horse racing isn't a matter of pure luck (like toto and 4D) since you can still assess the various conditions to make a deliberated guess.

The Gallop @ L2. Gantries were dusty, and the barriers were down. I walked in to take a look and it's just an empty, seemingly abandoned area. I doubt it would look any different now from one year ago since there's no point in renovating and coming up with a new concept.

Restricted access to the high levels, which required additional payment of S$20 or S$30 (can't remember). Problem was I can't even go up even if I can pay! There was a dress code and I was wearing a pair of bermudas, and sandals.

Down on ground level again; passage was closed as the horses were still at the Parade Ring and they, with the jockeys, were supposed to take the path towards the Racecourse.

Photographs taken of the path from the Parade Ring to the Racecourse. Imagine a fervent fan jumping over and running all the way to the racecourse while the race was ongoing!

A horse sculpture.

What's going to happen to it once Singapore Turf Club closes?

For such a large complex that could sit thousands, outlets selling food and drinks. What surprised me was the Chinese dumpling stall as it's such a niche food to have. Even for me, I don't eat Chinese dumplings unless it is the dumpling festival. Turned out it was a play of Chinese words to sure win (包中) and you have to buy and eat both bun (包) and dumplings (粽).

I am happy with my cold can of Heineken beer.

Cost S$5.50 but offered a cool respite from the heat.

There were two food courts though; one appeared totally unoperational and the other had limited stalls that were open. Frankly, how would you expect them to survive when they only get busy on weekends?

Many punters were just happy using the space to spread out the bet slips, review the participating racehorses and finalize their decision before the race begins.

Leaving the betting to both Alex and the Greatest Kon.

Both are risk takers whereas I am absolutely not.

Please be assured that there were many stations for you to place your bets. It can be via the manual counters or via the self-betting kiosks, which required a betting card!

The screens were not just to show the odds for the horse races; it also showed the races from other countries as Singapore Turf Club also accepts bets from other partner races.

Hence, punters would be seated excitedly in front of the screens, hollering for the horse they bet on to win as the race comes to the final dash towards the ending point! The atmosphere can be so tense!

Now, let's proceed outdoors, where the action begins!

According to Wikipedia, the "five-story Grandstand" can accommodate a seating capacity of 13,000 people and I am guessing it included those on the air-conditioned levels 3 and 4, which required a separate admission fee and stricter dress code.

You can also catch a glimpse of them, by looking up.

Such is the difference in class status.

Also on top were the cameras and cameramen to record and capture the races.

I bet the view on top would be spectacular! Pity I have no access.

Interestingly, there were designated smoking areas but they were nearer to the tracks. What if there was a racehorse who is sensitive to the linger smoke and starts to hack, affecting its performance for the race?!

Seats looked kind of worn.... Those that were nearer to the tracks, without any kind of shelter, were worse, with stains that screamed "do not sit".

Wide angle shots of the Grandstand. In a few years' time, it would likely be razed unless the government decides to repurpose the building and incorporate it into the upcoming housing precinct.

The Marquee - marketed as a "unique venue overlooking the lush green world-class racetracks. Ideal for hosting large scale events set at the highest standards, this space can accommodate up to 600 people". For those looking for wedding venues, I thought this would have been a one-of-a-kind setting!

Outdoor beer garden; I heard it would only open when there are night races. Who would want to stand under the sun, with sweat soaking their tops and bottoms, while drinking a cold mug of beer?! Not me for sure.

I mentioned the seating capacity earlier. How about those open spaces? In all, the Grandstand can have up to 30,000 race goers! Nowadays, "the average attendance per race day was about 2,600", less than 10% of its total capacity.

The above should be the LED Astro vision screen - said to be the "largest outdoor screens in the world". Measuring 46-meter by 8-meter, I have my reservation and went on Google Search; largest outdoor screen is at United States, and it measures 157-meter by 112-meter. Maybe it was the largest in 1999, when the building was opened.

Aside from the ginormous building, another landmark for Singapore Turf Club is actually the above tower with wind vane like instrument on top, in the shape of a jockey on a race horse.

Several other lookout towers surrounded the 2000-meter long race track and from what I see, video cameras were installed to record the races at various angles whereas the winning horse would be recorded by the cameraman at the Grandstand.

There's even a photographer on the ground to capture close-up footages and also when the winning horse and jockey were brought to the winner's stand, which I would share some photographs later.

To allow night racing, a total of 41 light masts were installed around the racecourse known as Kranji Racecourse! Maybe I should check if there is a night race so that I can attend but knowing how much backlog I have, and my poor night photography skill; maybe not.

These housing blocks at Marsiling were so close to the racecourse! Guess noise would be top of the residents' complaints; someone should have a news story about this, on a slow news day.

Do note that the horses race on grass instead of tarred roads to protect their hooves. The grass used here was from the species of Zoysia Japonica, known as El-Toro, said to be "excellent cushion and is ideal for galloping".

Beautifying the racecourse with flowering shrubs.

Lucky gardeners are also closer to the action!

A tiered stage for the winner of a featured race I guess? Notable ones included Kranji Mile, Singapore Gold Cup, the recently concluded Singapore Derby, Lion City Cup, Raffles Cup, Queen Elizabeth II Cup etc.

Known as the winning posts, these are markers signifying "where the race ends on the finishing line. There can be several winning posts on a racecourse, so that race distances can be varied."

Without further ado, let the race begin! After Parade Ring, the race horses, with their jockeys, would proceed towards the starting gate of the racecourse.

You can also check out the LED screen for the proceedings as the starting gate with all the stalls, aligned in one row, might be too far for our naked eyes.

Raceeeee, start!

And the winners!

p.s. pictures taken of different races on the same day.

Damn, a jockey had fallen off his race horse; hope he/she isn't badly injured. Do you know that if a race horse wins a race without its jockey, the win is not counted? There's a valid reason for the harsh decision; a horse with lighter load runs faster.

Returning race horses and their jockeys.

A strange phenomenon - returning jockeys were required to weigh themselves, with their kits after the race, apparently to ensure the race horse was carrying its assigned weight, which seemed to ensure fairness amongst the race horses.

It's okay to weigh more; weighing less is a problem as it could have played to the race horse's advantage, enabling it to run faster with a higher chance of winning the race. Quite fascinating isn't it?!

Winning race horse and their jockey would be brought to a special area.

They would be first treated to a gust of mist from these clusters of fans. I wasn't there to touch but imagined them to be cool after such a heart pumping race!

Winner's enclosure, where there were two stands with two red-white ropes. Blind me didn't notice that until the winning horse and jockey strolled in!

Owner of the winning horse, the horse, the jockey and guests of the owner would all go into the enclosure and take a picture filled with pride and happiness! This post is enticing me to watch the movie, Seabiscuit, as I am pretty curious about the various aspects of horse racing.

Winners were put on a pedestal but losers continue their lives. While I trust most jockeys are compassionate towards their riding buddies, I am unsure if losing race horses would be the subject of physical and mental abuses by a minority of jockeys...

Not sure what this truck was for.

The emotional rollercoaster wasn't lost on the punters. Before the race starts, punters would be holding on their bet slips and wait with bated breath, yet exuding with confidence that they have accurately identify the winning horse.

Crowd would become livelier, and boisterous with loud hollers, punches in the air as the race horses galloped towards the finishing line. It's like playing blackjack in casinos when everyone will chant "picture, picture" hoping the banker will go bust with a picture.

All eaten up!

Alex lost about S$100.

Some will be happier, some will be sad. Some might be devastated as they could have spent their remaining cents, hoping to catch a windfall which never materializes. Please exercise responsible gambling; read here for more info.

Or you can buy more books to enhance your research on horse racing.

No, no no! I am just kidding. Responsible gambling is the way to go.

After almost 3.5 hours at Singapore Turf Club, it's time to make a move. No doubt an interesting experience and I will encourage those above 18 years old to make a trip there on race days (usually on either Saturday or Sunday) as horse racing activities in Singapore will cease to exist on such a large scale from 6 October 2024.

=====

Address