Kiwi trainers leave lasting legacy in Singapore

[Wandering Eyes]

Singapore racing’s final chapter will be written in the S$1.38m Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) this Saturday, ending a proud history at Kranji that several New Zealanders have enriched with their skills and horses.

Respected Kiwi trainers Laurie Laxon, Mark Walker, Stephen Gray, Bruce Marsh, Paddy Busuttin and Donna Logan have combined to win more than 3000 races in Singapore since the late 1990s. Many of those successes came from horses that were bred in New Zealand or sold through the Karaka sale ring.

By 2014 Laxon had won nine premierships, including becoming the first trainer to reach 100 wins in a single Singapore season in 2004. He later bettered that record with 104 wins in 2008.

Laxon trained a total 1263 winners in Singapore, which is believed to be a world record for a trainer at any single venue.

A multiple Group One-winning jockey and trainer who started out in Woodville, Bruce Marsh followed in Laurie Laxon’s footsteps up to Singapore and himself made an indelible mark.

Marsh won 417 races over a 14-year career at Kranji, including two victories in the coveted Singapore Derby (2000m) with Kiwi-bred stars Hello And Goodbye (NZ) (Danzalion) and Race Ahead (NZ) (Al Akbar).

An instrumental part of Te Akau Racing’s development into a multi-national force over the last couple of decades, Mark Walker has won four trainers’ premierships in Singapore to go with his six and counting in New Zealand.

Walker began his Singapore tenure in 2010 and won premiership titles in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021.

Another of New Zealand’s big Singapore success stories is Stephen Gray, who added 825 wins at Kranji to his tally of just under 400 in New Zealand in partnership with his father Kevin.

“It’s such a pity when you think back to how good Singapore was,” Gray commented earlier this year.

Another Kiwi trainer who flew the flag on the Singapore stage was Paddy Busuttin, who was at Kranji from 1997 to 2006 and finished among the top five on the trainers’ premiership in all of his first five seasons.

Busuttin’s headline performer at Kranji was the great Bocelli (NZ) (Lord Ballina), who was Singapore’s Horse of the Year in 2001.

The most recent addition to this list is Donna Logan, whose former base at Ruakaka produced a series of trans-Tasman Group One stars such as Rising Romance (NZ) (Ekraar), Volkstok’n’barrell (NZ) (Tavistock), Habibi (NZ) (Ekraar), Victory Smile (NZ) (Victory Dance), Valley Girl (NZ) (Mastercraftsman) and Vapour Trail (NZ) (Jetball).

Logan moved to Singapore in 2018 and became only the second female trainer to hold a licence at Kranji. She has gone on to win 189 races in Singapore, including the S$1m Kranji Mile with Minister (Street Sense).

These respected trainers are just some of the Kiwis who have left a lasting legacy in Singapore racing. The final raceday takes place on Saturday 5 October with the running of the S$1.38m Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2000m).

View the full article