HINTS OF THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Moore is one of those who should know about Singapore racing. Long before becoming one of international racing’s most successful trainers – with a record of more than 1,700 race wins to his name – Moore had arrived in Singapore in 1970 as a 20-year-old amateur jockey, looking for opportunities to make his mark on the world.
In those days, racing was held at the Bukit Timah Racecourse, where there were gallops on the grass through the trees and a sense that racing was part of the very fabric of Singapore. “You could really sense that history and the excitement, even in the 1970s, at every racing meeting with the huge crowds and the noise,” Moore recalled. “I loved coming back over the years.”
It’s little wonder Moore would go on to claim one of the city’s top races, the Group One Singapore Airlines International Cup, three times (2013 to 2015). But he said that the first hint of the beginning of the end for Singapore racing came in 2015, when the decision was made to cease staging that particular race. As a result, the country lost a little of its lustre on the global scene.
Racing in Singapore has noticeably scaled down over the past decade. According to the Singapore Turf Club, crowds averaged around 2,600 per race in 2022, a significant drop from the 11,000 who attended each meeting in 2010. Revenue from horse wagering, including overseas races, declined from S$1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion) in 2010 to S$1.1 billion (US$800,000) in 2022.