One small, humble landmark and another landmark, a huge spectacular complex – a pair of buildings which will face two different fates. Let’s take the spectacular complex first.
It will vanish in the same way as the former Bukit Timah Turf Club – to make way for other developments in land-scarce Singapore.
Bukit Timah was – for punters and the racing fraternity alike – remarkable because it was part of a circuit where horses ran in Singapore as well as in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. Horses, owners, trainers and jockeys would travel from city to city every weekend. Old-time punters would also remember the fierce rivalry between the two top trainers – Singapore’s Ivan Allan and Penang’s Teh Choon Beng. Allan later went over to Hong Kong, where he made his mark as a respected trainer of champion horses.It was a built from the ground situation. Foreign trainers from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa started new stables. Charles Leck and Leslie Khoo were the only non-Westerner trainers.
Generally, the regular local punters were getting older and were a dying species. Younger Singaporeans had other things to do and were not interested in punting/racing. They probably preferred to bet on English Premier League soccer matches.I personally have more nostalgia for Bukit Timah than Kranji. Ah well…
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