Singapore Turf Club to close in 2027, freeing land in Kranji for housing, other uses

October 2024’s 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup will mark final race amid declining spectator numbers

Jun 05, 2023



AFTER almost two centuries, the Singapore Turf Club (STC) will run its last race in 2024. The government on Monday (Jun 5) announced that it will take back 120 hectares of land in Kranji, now occupied by STC, for redevelopment.

With the handover due in 2027, the horse-racing venue will host its last race meeting on Oct 5, 2024; the facility will close by March 2027. Its last event will be the 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup.

In a statement, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ministry of National Development (MND) said the decision came amid declining spectatorship for local horse racing over the years, and a continuous review of land-use plans to meet future needs.

Adding that Singapore is a “city-state with limited land”, the ministries said the return of the Kranji plot – equivalent to around 200 football fields – will enable the land and its surroundings to be “holistically master-planned” in addition to other major plans for Singapore’s northern region. The other plans include redeveloping the Woodlands Checkpoint, rejuvenating Woodlands Town, and master-planning Lim Chu Kang into a high-tech agri-food cluster.

They stated in particular that the Singapore racecourse site will be used for “housing, including public housing”.

Other than that, MND is studying other potential uses, including leisure and recreation. In firming up plans around this, the ministry will take into consideration the needs and requirements of various equestrian entities that intend to continue operating in Singapore, including compatibility with other land uses being considered for the area.



“MND will provide a timely update on the land-use plans after the necessary assessments and studies have been completed,” they added.

Asked to provide more details at a press conference, Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah said it is too early to comment on specific land use plans at this stage, adding: “It’s not like Lego bricks. You don’t just take a whole set of blocks and dump it (in). You have to plan it out properly.”

The concept can take several years to firm up, she also said, citing the relocation of Paya Lebar Airbase, which was first announced during the 2013 National Day Rally, as an example. Details of the airbase’s move were shared only last year; they include the freeing up of land for 150,000 new homes in Paya Lebar, as well as the redevelopment of towns such as Hougang, Marine Parade and Punggol.

In a separate statement, the STC said it will work with the government to ensure a well-managed exit for local horse racing. This includes offering support for racehorse owners and trainers for horse maintenance and exportation, it pointed out. The process will mean that about 700 horses will be exported in phases by March 2026.

It added that its some 350 employees will be offboarded in phases, in accordance with the Ministry of Manpower’s regulatory requirements and guidelines. MOF and MND noted that the first phase will begin around 16 months from this announcement.

Employees will receive support during the transition with a retrenchment package, personal career guidance, skills-training courses and counselling as they move on, the club stated.

STC chairman Niam Chiang Meng said the club’s staff is saddened by the government’s decision, but understands the impending need for housing and other recreational needs. “We told them we will give them a fair compensation, (and) make sure that it’s as good as we can possibly give,” he added.

The STC was founded as the Singapore Sporting Club in 1842. It moved to the present facility in Kranji, which features a five-storey grandstand, in 1999.

The club now holds 550 races a year, with the Kranji Mile and the Singapore Gold Cup – each with prize purse of S$1 million – being the most notable races, but pundits had seen the writing on the wall for its closure.

In 2016, the STC shocked racing fans when it discontinued the two crown jewels on its racing calendar – the S$3 million Singapore Airlines International Cup and the S$1 million KrisFlyer International Sprint.

The two events, which were held in May, were introduced in 2000 and 2001 respectively to promote Singapore races internationally, and uplift the quality of Singapore horses and local racing.

Then in 2019, Dubai-based airline Emirates dropped its title sponsorship of the S$1.15 million Emirates Singapore Derby, an annual glitzy event in July that, by one account, used to draw some 15,000 fans to the races. Today, the event is known as just Singapore Derby, with a S$400,000 prize purse.

Behind this is a story of declining on-site spectatorship since the inception of casinos in 2010. According to the STC, the average attendance per Singapore race between 2010 and 2019 fell by about half, from about 11,000 spectators per race day to about 6,000.

This worsened after Covid. The average number of live spectators after its April 2022 post-pandemic reopening was less than half of what it was before the venue was closed to the public in March 2020.

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