Operations at the Singapore Turf Club (STC) will begin winding down at its home in Kranji and the 120ha site, which spans around 200 football fields, will be handed back to the Government by March 2027 for redevelopment.
STC had moved to Kranji in 1999 from its old Bukit Timah location, which had similarly been earmarked for housing and other uses.
It currently holds about one race day a week, on which 10 to 13 races are held - or around 550 races per year.
The club was founded in 1842 as the Singapore Sporting Club by Scottish merchant William Henry Macleod Read and a group of horse racing enthusiasts.
Its first race was held in February 1843 to mark the 24th anniversary of Singapore’s founding by Sir Stamford Raffles. The prize money was $150.
The inaugural Singapore Cup was watched by more than 300 spectators. Race day was declared a national holiday.
In 1924, Singapore Sporting Club changed its name to Singapore Turf Club, and the first Singapore Gold Cup was held that year.
Over the years, big races with top-dollar prizes have featured top horses and jockeys from around the world, with British royalty and tycoons in attendance.
Singapore Turf Club remains the only horse racing club and authorised operator for horse racing activities in Singapore.
The $500 million Kranji racetrack was designed with the latest in-turf innovation and technology. There are 41 light masts installed around the course, which allowed the club to introduce night racing in 1999.
STC boasts stables with air-conditioned rooms, swimming pools for the horses, and Singapore's only equine veterinary hospital. Its riding centre hosted the 2010 Youth Olympic Games’ equestrian show-jumping event.
At the club’s peak, thousands of horse-racing enthusiasts would pack the grandstands on race day.
But horse racing’s popularity here has waned. Between 2010 and 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, the club saw its average race day attendance decline from about 11,000 spectators to some 6,000.
When the racecourse reopened to the public in April 2022, just 2,600 showed up on the average race day - less than half the pre-Covid-19 attendance.
Last Monday, STC announced that it would close in October 2024.