A Day at the Races

For pretty much as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved horse racing. I can still recall trips to my local track, Monmouth Park, when I was very, very young. And when I became old enough to legally bet myself, I began visiting the track more regularly. When I interned in London back in the summer of 2006, I got friends together and attended both Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. And when I studied abroad in France for a semester in 2007, I spent one of my first weekends at the Hippodrome de Vincennes.

Of course, in Hong Kong for the past three years, it’s easier to count the Wednesday evenings when I didn’t go to the track, since I hardly missed a mid-week night meeting in Happy Valley. I know I've written about my love for Happy Valley several times on this blog, but I also frequented Hong Kong’s second track, Sha Tin, situated in a beautiful and rugged section of the New Territories.

With friends at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong back in November

So in all honesty, it was pretty mind-boggling to me that I’d been living in Singapore for nearly six months and still hadn’t made the effort to check out the Lion City’s Thoroughbred track. To make matters more urgent, I am returning to the United States presently, for a temporary work assignment out of our New York headquarters. I'm not sure how long I'll be away, and I'm definitely returning as soon as I can. Yet I couldn't leave without having visited the track. So I fixed that yesterday. My friend Issam and I journeyed up north for a day at the races, and I can now add the Singapore Turf Club’s Kranji Racecourse to the list of tracks where I’ve whiled away a sunny day.

I’ve been spoilt in Hong Kong. Happy Valley racetrack is right in the heart of town, and my apartment literally overlooked the course, so visiting was not only fun but easy. In Singapore, the track is about as far away from the city as you can get, way up near the border with Malaysia. It took Issam and me over an hour to get there via MRT, including two line switches! But it was a beautiful track.

Kranji Racecourse

As it was Preakness weekend back in the States, it seemed like an appropriate day to make the trek up to Kranji. To boot, it was also one of Singapore’s biggest racing days, with two very important international races taking place, the KrisFlyer International Sprint and the Singapore Airlines International Cup. The purse on the Sprint is a hefty one million Singapore dollars, while the Cup pays a cool three million!

Of course, my first bet was a winner. We had headed over to the parade ring to observe the horses before our first race, and I noticed number 14 seemed very feisty and itching to go. I could hear my mom’s voice in my head, “That one’s gonna run fast!” and quickly put some money on him to place. And of course, he came in second! Not a bad start.

Crowds gathering at the Parade Ring

Then, I proceeded to lose each of my bets in races 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8! But I hardly cared. I always enjoy the thrill of a good race, and of course, a few ice cold Tigers made the day even more pleasant. The big showpieces of the day were races 9 and 10.

The International Sprint featured horses from all over the world, and I bet on one of several Hong Kong horses. Day had become night, and bright floodlights illuminated Kranji Racecourse. Annoyingly, I bet Lucky Nine to place and he came in first. It was still exciting, and Issam and I had both put money on him, so it was nice for us both to collect something!

And in the tenth race, the International Cup, I put my money on yet another Hong Kong horse. I'd learned my lesson, and this time I bet him to win. As the horses rounded the final turn and made their way up the home stretch, I was screaming my head off. And to my utter delight, Military Attack was the first to cross the finish line by a safe margin!

In the end, the day had turned out to be pretty stellar. I always love a day at the races, and I’m glad my first race meeting in Singapore wound up being such a fun and memorable experience. I know yesterday’s trip won’t be my last to Kranji Racecourse. Here’s to many racing days to come!