Singapore Season of 2015

The Singapore Turf Club's Michael Lee reports:

The just-concluded 2015 Singapore racing season has come and gone in the blink of an eye, but the many thrilling moments that have marked this year will stay etched in the mind for a while to come.

Among the most memorable victories witnessed at Kranji, the ones by old stalwarts like Stepitup, War Affair and Spalato were classics that still give goosebumps, but the future is also encapsulated by those up-and-coming exciting prospects such as Super One (albeit now moved to Australia), Fastnet Dragon, Super Winner, My Lucky Strike, Perfect P among others.

In the riding ranks, Brazilian jockey Manoel Nunes was the dominant force, though his score of 123 wins could have been better if not for some lengthy suspensions. Relatively quiet since his first champion apprentice jockey title in 2011, Shafiq Rizuan rose from the ashes to go two-up four years later.

Incidentally, those two talented jockeys, coupled with a powerful armada of horses, were in many ways the driving force behind New Zealand trainer Mark Walker's first Singapore premiership title.

And there would not be any races without owners. This year has seen a good mix of the old guard and some new faces, but it was two familiar powerhouses who clinched the top prizes, the Avengers Stable in terms of prizemoney and the Oscar Racing Stable for most wins in the season.

Not every highlight can be bottled up in this traditional wrap-up, but the main ones are there for you to relive again, although there were also some sad moments, none more tragic than the passing of young Australian jockey Timothy Bell in November.

Giddy-up and let's all gear up for another successful season in 2016! Wishing all our readers Happy Holidays and see you on New Year's Day for the traditional New Year Cup meeting.

JANUARY

New Zealand trainer Mark Walker kicked off the 2015 season with a winning hat-trick. However, the opening day's prized win went to trainer Patrick Shaw whose Quechua took home the Group 3 New Year Cup (1900m). Comeback apprentice jockey Farick Tan returns to winning ways after nine years when he scored aboard Thankfulness for his old master Laurie Laxon on January 11. War Affair sweeps four awards including Singapore Horse Of The Year title at the Singapore Racing Awards night on January 21. After landing the Woodlands Classic Stakes (2000m) with Dujardin last year, Singapore champion jockey Manoel Nunes made it back-to-back in the Group 3 race with the Bruce Marsh-trained Knight's Command on January 25. Top Australian jockey Michael Rodd began his new three-month visit in the best possible way with a haul of nine wins.

Jimmy Rea brings up Manoel Nunes and Mark Walker's first win on January 1. Both will end up on top of the heap by season-end.

FEBRUARY

Michael Freedman's apprentice Syafiq Hazman opened his account aboard Secret Liberty on February 6. Nine days later, trainer Cliff Brown secured his second consecutive Group 3 Three Rings Trophy (1400m) success with Absolutely, one year after Zac Spirit. The Chinese New Year was ushered in with its traditional feature event, the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (2000m) on February 20, which was captured by the aptly-named Emperor's Banquet for a Patrick Shaw treble in that race. Two days later,  Belgian star Christophe Soumillon won at his very first ride in Singapore when he drove the Christophe Clement-trained US mare Parranda to victory in the inaugural $3.05 million Group 1 CECF Singapore Cup (1800m), a China Horse Club members-only event. Its sister-race, the Group 3 CECF Singapore Prestige Classic (1400m), which was open to locals, went to smart filly Kiwi Karma for trainer Michael Clements.

MARCH

March kicked off with the shock revocation of trainer Sam Chua's trainer's licence due to bankruptcy. Trainer Patrick Shaw continued his dominance in the middle-distance features with a third success courtesy of Slew Of Lode in the Group 3 Polytrack Mile Championship (1600m) on March 8. On the same day, new apprentice jockey Salim Yusoff bagged his first Singapore win astride the Tan Hor Khoon-trained Kaiser. Polytrack specialist El Padrino records back-to-back wins in the Group 3 Merlion Trophy (1200m) on March 15, for a record third Merlion Trophy for his trainer Alwin Tan. He earned a ticket to the US$2 million Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m) in Dubai in which he ran fourth to Secret Circle on 28 March. Trainer Leslie Khoo had his name etched to the Singapore Golden Horseshoe series honour roll when Kubera Warrior secured the first Leg of the six-race series for two-year-olds on March 22. On the same day, Slew Of Lode captured the Group 3 Marsiling Classic Stakes (1800m). Local race meetings on March 27 and 29 were called off as a mark of respect following the passing of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

El Padrino (Oscar Chavez) takes out the Group 3 Merlion Trophy (1200m) for the second year in a row.

APRIL

Kiwi Karma held off former stablemate Affleck in the first Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge, the Group 3 Dester Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200m) on Good Friday April 3. Trainer David Kok finally broke his 2015 duck on Easter Sunday, picking up his first win with Well Done. On the same day, Thumping saw off favourite Quechua in the Group 3 JBBA Moonbeam Vase (1800m) with a come-from-behind win while Zac Spirit, ridden by replacement jockey John Powell, added a second Kranji Sprint silverware to the first one earned in 2014. Steven Burridge's apprentice Firdhaus Rafi booted home his first winner Benji's Empire on April 10. Spanish Bay grabbed the second Leg of the 3YO Challenge, the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400m) on April 17. One week later on April 26, Stepitup bounced back to form in a thriller in the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m) before Singapore Horse of the Year War Affair returned a winner with a narrow victory at the last hop in the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m). Hughsy picked up the third feature, the Group 3 Admiralty Classic Stakes (1600m).

MAY

On May 15, the final Leg of the 3YO Challenge, the Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) went to Affleck while exciting juvenile prospect Super One thumped his two-year-old rivals in the Group 2 Aushorse Golden Horseshoe (1200m), the last Leg of the six-race Singapore Golden Horseshoe Series. Hong Kong was the conquering nation on Singapore's biggest night for the third year in a row, as they again snared both races. This time it was Dan Excel in the Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup for his second win in a row and Aerovelocity in the Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint. Michael Rodd pulled off a rare four from four on May 29. War Affair gave a scare to his supporters when he was caught wide in the Group 2 Stewards' Cup (1400m) on May 31, but his class saw him prevail in the end.

JUNE

Classy galloper War Affair continued his winning streak after coming back from his lengthy spell when he saluted impressively in the second Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge, the Group 1 Patron's Bowl (1600m) on June 21. On the same day, 2011 Singapore champion apprentice jockey Shafiq Rizuan booted home five winners, his first such feat since his Kranji riding debut in 2011.

Singapore Horse of the Year War Affair (Alan Munro) wins unopposed in the Group 1 Patron's Bowl (1600m).

JULY

War Affair missed out at the last hurdle in his Triple Crown bid, in the one that mattered the most, the Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby (2000m) when beaten a neck by Quechua on July 12. Trainer Laurie Laxon claimed the other two supporting acts of the day, Stepitup in the Group 3 Yew Tee Classic Stakes (1800m) and Daniel who made a successful comeback in the Group 3 Paititi Gold Trophy (1200m). Malaysian apprentice jockey Wong Chin Chuen opened his Kranji account aboard Secondwave for his new master David Hill on July 19, followed five days later by Singapore apprentice jockey Ng Choon Kiat aboard Zac Gallant for his master Mark Walker. The small but stout-hearted Stepitup again prevailed when successful this time in the Group 2 Chairman's Trophy (1800m) on July 26, but without taking anything away from the Laurie Laxon-trained galloper, it was Super One who was the star of the day when he flogged his rivals in the Group 3 Juvenile Championship (1200m) to earn his ticket to Melbourne. On the same day, history was made with the participation of the first Korean horses in Singapore, in the Korea Racing Authority Trophy (1200m) which was, however, kept on local soil by Super Winner, ridden by former Korean-based jockey Soo Khoon Beng.

AUGUST

In this year of Singapore's Golden Jubilee, kicking off the month of August is the SG50 Trophy (1400m) which is captured by Daniel. Adelaide apprentice jockey Jake Toeroek rode a double to get his two-week work experience to a great start. He added one more win to head home with three winners. Spalato showed his back injury was behind him with a superlative performance in the Group 3 Woodlands Handicap (1200m) at his comeback from an eight-month layoff. The vastly-improved Snitzel Spirit won the Group 3 Causeway Classic Stakes (1800m) on August 14. Korea is no happy hunting ground for Singapore. Apprentice jockey Joseph See rode a third as his best showing at the Asian Young Guns Challenge in Seoul on August 29 before El Padrino found one better in his bid for back-to-back Asia Challenge Cups at the same venue the next day.

In the SG50 spirit, Daniel (Corey Brown) lands the SG50 Trophy (1400m).

SEPTEMBER

The much-touted War Affair vs Spalato bout did not take place, but we still saw a supreme performance from Spalato as he maintained his unbeaten local record to eight wins in the Group 3 Jumbo Jet Trophy (1400m) on September 6. Ascot beckons as Emperor Max returned victorious from a layoff in the Group 3 Garden City Trophy (1200m) on September 20. A few races later, good old Flax claimed the Group 3 Committee's Prize (1600m), his fourth feature win in as many years, before being duly retired to his owners' ranch in South Africa. On September 28, the Singapore Turf Club announced that the Republic's two marquee international races, the Singapore Airlines International Cup and KrisFlyer International Sprint would be discontinued.

OCTOBER

Popular galloper Stepitup produced a turn of foot not even his trainer Laurie Laxon thought he had to smash his rivals in the first Leg of the Singapore Triple Crown series, the Group 1 Panasonic Kranji Mile (1600m) on October 4. It's mixed results for Singapore horses overseas with Emperor Max running a brave seventh in the Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (1200m) at Ascot on October 17 while Super One disappointed in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on October 31. Back home, unheralded galloper Dragon Fury upset the applecart in the Group 3 Saas Fee Stakes (1400m) on October 18. Racing was cancelled on October 23 due to the haze, but the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1800m) meeting went ahead two days later and saw Stepitup add the second Leg of the Singapore Triple Crown series while the Mark Walker-trained Sebrose gave Australian jockey Timothy Bell his first Singapore Group win in the Group 3 El Dorado Classic (2200m).

NOVEMBER

Unfortunately, the 22-year-old jockey's life was tragically cut short in an accidental fall from his high-rise apartment on November 3. A couple of days earlier, Jimmy Rea bounced back to his best in the Landex Cup (1400m) on November 1. Gold Rutile snuck up on the inside to upstage Spalato in the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) on November 13 and last but not least, the Grand Final of the year, the Longines Singapore Gold Cup (2200m) was captured by trainer Patrick Shaw for the third time, this time with Russian-owned Argentinian stayer Cooptado, also capping a fantastic year for apprentice jockey Shafiq Rizuan, who went on to secure a second champion apprentice jockey title after the one in 2011.

Trainer Patrick Shaw (left) celebrates his third Singapore Gold Cup win while Shafiq Rizuan (middle) is at his first, capping an outstanding year that will also see him claim his second champion apprentice jockey title.

DECEMBER

Oscar Chavez and Nooresh Juglall represented Singapore in a jockeys challenge in Mauritius on December 6 but both failed to ride a winner. The last feature race of the year, the Group 3 Colonial Chief Stakes (1700m) saw a tight battle to the wire where Best Tothelign and Order Of The Sun could not be separated for the first dead-heat in a ‘black type' event at Kranji. While the titles for champion jockey and champion apprentice jockey, Manoel Nunes (123 wins) and Shafiq Rizuan (54 wins) respectively, were known for a while, the last two meetings of the year confirmed the crowning of top New Zealand trainer Mark Walker (86 wins) in Singapore for the first time since his relocation in 2010. In the horse owners category, the Avengers Stable took the Leading Owner trophy in terms of prizemoney won while the Oscar Racing Stable got the nod for the Leading Owner award for most wins in the season.