The Singapore Turf Club was opened in 1842, and was originally called the Singapore Sporting Club. The club adopted its current name in 1924 in a bid to better clarify its purpose. It is currently the country’s sole horse racing club, and is one of the members of the Malayan Racing Association which regulates and oversees the Perak, Penang and Selangor turf clubs that are in Malaysia. The Singapore Turf Club is the sole authorised body to organise horse races and horse betting (totalistor) services in the country.
It was founded to oversee the operations of the Serangoon Road Race Course located at Farrer Park; the initial race was hosted in 1843 with a purse of only $150. The club has been relocated twice, to Bukit Tamah in 1933 and to its current premises in Kranji in 1999. Races are held on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year, and often live races from Hong Kong, Australia and even France and the UK are broadcasted on the premises. In 2010, it served as the site for the equestrian events of the Summer Youth Olympics.
The club hosts the Singapore International Racing Festival (SIRF), and is visited by some of the top trainers, jockeys and horse owners in the world. The Singapore Airlines International Cup (SAIC), with S$3 million in prize money and the KrisFlyer International Sprint, with S$1 million in prize money, are key events in the racing festival. For those who love horses or racing, the club is a definite ‘must visit’. The club does have a dress code and visitors who are inappropriately dressed will be denied entrance. The race course is adjacent to the Kranji MRT Station, making it easy for anyone using public transport to reach it.
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