Farewell Kranji, hello Malaysia.
The sad closure of Singapore horse racing after 180 popular years in “the Lion City” feels like an act of vandalism to racing fans.
The band of South Africans who keenly followed the form and quirks of Kranji racecourse over many years will be dreading the hole in their punting routine when the final curtain comes down at a meeting on 5 October.
But the hole will be at least partially filled by live racing from Singapore’s close neighbour Malaysia, with the action set to be screened on DStv’s Racing 240 channel for the first time on Sunday.
Malaysian tracks
Three Malaysian tracks – Selangor, Penang and Perak – will serve up about eight race meetings a month, with TAB offering a full betting spread.
With 20 registered trainers and 18 licensed jockeys and apprentices in Malaysia, hardly a weekend goes by without at least one race meeting in a country with a population of 34 million people.
The land on which Kranji racecourse stands has been leased from the Singapore government, which now wants it back – due to a chronic scarcity of space for housing in a tiny city-state that is home to more than five million.
Feeling at home
Announcing the arrival of Malaysia on the local scene, operator 4Racing revealed that South African Devon Pretorius was recently appointed a race caller in the southeast Asian country – and speculated that South African TV viewers would feel at home when hearing his familiar Cape Town accent.
As with all international race meetings on which TAB offers betting, the complete race card, previews, betting and other relevant information will be available at www.tab4racing.com.
This Sunday sees a 10-race meeting kick off at Selangor at 7.15am SA time.
