SINGAPORE — Two of Singapore’s most prestigious international horse races, the S$3 million Singapore Airlines International Cup (SIA Cup) and the S$1 million KrisFlyer International Sprint (KFIS), will be discontinued with immediate effect, the Singapore Turf Club said in a surprise announcement today (Sept 28).

The two events, which have been on Singapore’s race calendar for more than a decade, were last held in May at the Kranji Racecourse. But the Turf Club said today in its media release that they will be scrapped after having achieved their objectives.

“The Singapore Airlines International Cup and KrisFlyer International Sprint were introduced in 2000 and 2001 respectively to achieve several objectives,” said the Turf Club. “These include branding Singapore races internationally and uplifting the quality of Singapore horses and Singapore racing. Both international races together with Singapore Racing have grown in stature and prestige over the years. As the objectives set out for the two races have been achieved, Singapore Turf Club wishes to announce that the SIA Cup and KFIS will be discontinued.”

In response to TODAY’s queries, the Turf Club said it has no immediate plans to replace the two Cup races with new feature races. “However, we will be working to further develop our major feature races such as the Singapore Gold Cup and the Singapore Derby,” said its spokesman.

And when asked how the scrapping of the races will impact the local racing scene, the Turf Club said that “resources and efforts will now be chanelled to ensure Singapore Racing continues to grow and be of world class standard”.

Local racehorse owner Tang Weng Fei, who is a partner of Jupiter Stable, said he was surprised by the news as he had not heard any rumours or rumblings about the scrapping of the two races. 

However, the oil trader said he was not disturbed by the latest development. “As an owner, I feel it’s not a bad idea to squash it,” said Tang who is also the president of Singapore Athletics. “It doesn’t benefit local horse racers in terms of prize money as we can’t compete with the international riders. We participate and just hope for the best.”

Since 2000, only one locally-trained horse has won the SIA Cup. That was Ouzo, who with Singapore jockey Saimee Jumaat astride, beat Jim and Tonic by a neck in the inaugural edition of the race.

Since then, the International Group One race has seen 12 individual winners from eight different countries: England, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Australia, Japan, South Africa, France and Hong Kong.

This year’s SIA Cup saw Hong Kong raider Dan Excel creating history by becoming the first horse to win the race twice in its history following its triumph in the 2014 edition. Likewise, the only locally-trained horse to have won the KFIS was Ato in 2012. Hong Kong’s Aerovelocity won this year’s race.

Tang said the Singapore Turf Club has put in a lot of effort, not only for the SIA Cup and the KFIS, but for Singapore horse racing on a whole. “They have done some great work both locally and internationally, and have done well to achieve some of their objectives.”