Singapore announces end to horse racing after 180 years as last course to shut shop

The 100th and final race for the Grand Singapore Gold Cup will take place on 5 October next year

Horses are paraded before the debut of the China Equine Cultural Festival Singapore Cup at Kranji racecourse in Singapore on 22 February 2015 (AFP via Getty Images)

Singapore’s nearly two-century tryst with horse racing will end for good next year when the country’s only horse racing club will shut shop.

The Singapore Turf Club (STC) was founded in October 1842.

Its 100th and final race for the Grand Singapore Gold Cup will take place on 5 October 2024, local reports said.

The island nation’s government announced plans that the large, 120-hectare site will be redeveloped for public housing, citing the “limited land” available to meet such needs for the public.

“We are saddened by the decision of the government to close the club,” the STC said in a statement. “At the same time, we understand the land needs of Singapore, including housing and other potential uses such as leisure and recreation,” chairperson Niam Chiang Meng said.

“Singapore is a city-state with limited land,” the ministry of national development and the ministry of finance said in a joint statement. “The government continually reviews its land use plans to meet today’s needs while ensuring there is sufficient land for future generations.”

The STC will return the land to the government in 2027, it was reported.

The STC was founded as the Singapore Sporting Club by Scottish merchant William Henry Macleod Read and a group of horse racing enthusiasts, according to The Strait Times.

It was then located at Farrer Park. The STC moved to its current location at Kranji in the north of the island.

“We will do our best to ensure business as usual for the Club until our final race meeting,” STC chair Mr Meng said.

People queue up to place bet for the annual ToTo Hongbao draw at a Singapore Turf Club booth in 2004 (AFP via Getty Images)

“Concurrently, we will work with our stakeholders to ensure a smooth exit for local horse racing and make the necessary preparations for the estate to be handed over to the government by March 2027,” he said.

“We are aligned with the government on the need to invest in the future of Singapore.”

STC president and chief executive Irene Lim hopes the club will “leave a lasting impression”.

“We are committed to seeing this phase of the nation’s history come to an end in a dignified manner, befitting all our stakeholders including employees, jockeys, racehorse owners, racehorse trainers, the equestrian community and horses that have graced our grounds,” she was quoted as saying by RaceNet.

“We hope to leave a lasting impression of the Club that will be fondly and proudly remembered by Singapore and the world.”