A BITTERSWEET GOODBYE
The final race meeting will be a bittersweet affair, jockeys and horse owners who are affected by the club’s closure told CNA’s Singapore Tonight on Tuesday ( Sep 17 ).
Visitors will be very excited and will be heading out for a fun day of it, according to animal owner Eric Koh, managing chairman of Equine Sanctuary, a company of horse care services.
“ But to a lot of us- the educators, the masters, the jockeys- it’ll be pretty a somber and depressing time. It’s like attending a death truly, because it’s the last day of Singapore racing after 182 times. ”
The business in animal and horse racing had hoped for a U-turn in the closure, according to Mr. Koh, who has been busy organizing the relocation of horses.
“ But I guess by then, the truth has set in, ” he said. “So ( for most of the economy ), we have all accepted that there’s no U-turn and so we just have to move on. ”
While there is the option of racing overseas, it is “a different feeling ” when competing at home, he added.
There has been a lot of curiosity among other Asian nations that want to set up a track as well since the announcement of ( the closure last year ). ”
The STC was where Matthew Kellady’s past horse, who is now a work horse at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, met his wife.
“My whole life is ( in Singapore ), it means everything to me, ” he said. “It’s really hard for me to travel, and get a new career, ” he told CNA from Guangzhou.
I have missed all of their birthdays and other significant lifestyle milestones because I have to leave my wife and my three children in Singapore.
“ While I’m very grateful for the job in China, it is very lonely, being here all alone by myself. I have to create a very difficult decision to leave the home behind when I travel all the way around. ”