Singapore will stage its last ever race meeting on Saturday, appropriately headlined by the iconic S$1.38m Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) – a race whose 100-year history is littered with New Zealand-sourced success.
The Singapore Gold Cup was first run in 1924 and had its first New Zealand-bred winner with Lord Arrogance (NZ) (Ruthless) in 1959. Through the 64 years since then, another 24 winners have been bred in New Zealand and/or sold at Karaka.
One of the most famous names on that honour roll is Saas Fee (NZ) (Hasty Cloud), who won the Singapore Gold Cup in 1978 and 1980 and also captured the Singapore Derby (2400m). He is considered one of the greats of Singapore racing and had a black-type race at Kranji named in his honour – the Saas Fee Stakes (1400m) – between 2010 and 2019.
Saas Fee’s twin triumphs were part of an unbroken sequence of seven consecutive New Zealand-bred winners of the Singapore Gold Cup between 1978 and 1984. He was followed by Bold Hunter (NZ) (Rocky Mountain), Taman Singapura (NZ) (Showoff), Siapa Rajah (NZ) (Amalgam), Freedom Fighter (NZ) (Noble Bijou) and Flying Habit (NZ) (Habitation).
The 1989 Singapore Gold Cup produced another notable winner in Colonial Chief (NZ) (Vice Regal), whose well-travelled career also included victories in the Group Three Adelaide Guineas (1600m) in Australia, the Penang Sprint Trophy (1400m) in Malaysia and Hong Kong’s Invitation Cup (1800m).
The Singapore Gold Cup was formerly sponsored by New Zealand Bloodstock, and five top-class Karaka graduates have won the race since 2003.
2003 – ZIRNA (NZ)
Bought by Stephen Autridge for $40,000 from the 2000 Premier Sale at Karaka, Zirna (NZ) (Deputy Governor) was already a star when she arrived in Singapore. She had been a four-time winner in New Zealand, culminating in the Group One New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).
But she shone even more brightly at Kranji, scoring outstanding victories in the Singapore Derby Trial (1600m), Raffles Cup (1800m) and Singapore Gold Cup. She earned more than S$1.29m and was Singapore’s Horse of the Year in 2003.
The Jim Campin-bred Zirna has subsequently gone on to be an influential broodmare, producing seven winners from nine foals to race including the multiple Australian stakes winner Crafty Irna (Starcraft) and Group Three-placed Zing (Zoutar). She is also granddam of another three black-type performers. Watch her impressive win in the 2003 Singapore Gold Cup here.
2016 – BAHANA (NZ)
The Haunui Bloodstock-bred Bahana (NZ) (Elusive City) was an $80,000 purchase from the 2013 Select Sale, then returned to Karaka for the Ready to Run Sale and was bought by Peter Ho Leung for $100,000.
The 2016 Singapore Gold Cup headlined a 36-start career that produced seven wins, five placings and more than S$1.27m. He also won the El Dorado Classic (2200m), and he returned to defend his Gold Cup crown in 2017 and ran second in a photo finish behind fellow Kiwi-bred Gilt Complex (NZ) (Gold Centre).
“He was the right horse for this race,” owner Untung Joesoef said after Bahana’s Singapore Gold Cup triumph. “My dream has come true. Bahana means ‘loud noise’ in Bahasa Indonesian, and he sure made some noise today!”
2017 – GILT COMPLEX (NZ)
Gilt Complex (NZ) (Gold Centre) was bred by John O’Brien and was bought by Anna Scott Racing for only $10,000 from the 2013 Festival Sale at Karaka.
The gelding went on to earn more than S$1.5m from a 30-start career, winning eight races along with seven seconds and a third. The Gold Cup was his career-defining moment, edging out defending champion Bahana (NZ) (Elusive City) in a thrilling photo finish.
“I was going nowhere at the 600-metre mark,” rider Michael Rodd said. “I was just tacking on to the horses in front and I thought I would run a nice fourth. He just got his second wind halfway up the straight. He spotted the fence, I let him go there and he found another gear. This is so special.”
Three weeks before the Gold Cup, Gilt Complex also scored an upset victory in the S$700,000 Raffles Cup (1800m). He was the first horse to complete that double since Zirna (NZ) (Deputy Governor) in 2003.
The Raffles-Gold Cup double gave him wins in both of the final two legs of Singapore’s Triple Crown series and an additional S$50,000 bonus for his Kiwi owners Graham Mackie and Trish Dunell.
2019 – MR CLINT (NZ)
Any article touching on New Zealand thoroughbreds from the last half-century would be incomplete without mentioning the legendary Sir Patrick Hogan. He and his wife Justine bred the 2019 Singapore Gold Cup winner Mr Clint (NZ) (Power), who was a $52,500 purchase from their Cambridge Stud draft at the 2016 Select Sale. He was re-offered by Riversley Park at the Ready to Run Sale, where Laurie Laxon bought him for $95,000.
Mr Clint went on to win five races and more than S$1.88m, with his Gold Cup triumph backed up by success in the Singapore Guineas (1600m) earlier in his career. He also placed in the Singapore Derby (1800m), Raffles Cup (1600m), Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) and Singapore 3YO Sprint (1200m), along with the 2018 edition of the Gold Cup.
Laxon had come to the end of his record-breaking Singapore training career by the time of Mr Clint’s Gold Cup win in 2019, and the gelding had relocated into the stable of expat Australian trainer Lee Freedman. But Laxon was represented at Kranji that day by his son John.
“He has been such a fantastic horse over several years,” he said. “Dad got him out of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale and every time he has run over ground, he has just been so genuine.”
2023 – LIM’S KOSCIUSZKO
In what might be a case of saving the best for last, superstar Karaka graduate Lim’s Kosciuszko (Kermadec) won the Gold Cup in 2023 and is back to defend his title in the final edition on Saturday.
The Lim’s Kosciuszko story began somewhat inauspiciously, with breeders Trelawney Stud passing him in with reserves of $75,000 and $60,000 at Karaka 2019 and the Ready to Run Sale respectively. But he has gone on to become one of the all-time greats of Singaporean racing.
Lim’s Kosciuszko has won 22 of his 29 starts and more than S$3.5m. He has won the 2000-metre Singapore Gold Cup and recorded three wins in the 1200-metre Lion City Cup, along with eight other black-type races in between those two distances.
Last year’s Gold Cup was his 17th win from 22 career starts, and he overcame a testing topweight of 58 kilograms as well as the extreme outside gate in a field of 16. But he dug deep and fought off the challenge of Dream Alliance (Into Mischief), who was carrying seven kilograms less, and scored an outstanding win in a rapid time of 2:00.67.
“That was amazing,” trainer Daniel Meagher said. “What can I say? I can train him to be fit, to be sound, to be happy, but I can’t train him to be tough.
“When it’s all said and done, that’s what won him the race today. He jumped from gate 16, carried the top weight and had every right to get beat in that final furlong. But he just toughed out the finish and that’s what makes champion horses.”
THE 2024 GRAND SINGAPORE GOLD CUP
There could be no more fitting finale for Singaporean racing than Lim’s Kosciuszko defending his title in the Grand Singapore Gold Cup on Saturday. The extraordinary seven-year-old will attempt to become the first back-to-back winner of the race since El Dorado (Stay Gold) in 2008 and 2009.
ther New Zealand interest in this year’s Gold Cup comes from Lim’s Kosciuszko’s Kiwi-bred stablemate Lim’s Saltoro (NZ) (Shamexpress), who himself is a rising star with wins in 10 of his 12 starts.
There are also two other Karaka graduates in the field.
- Cavalry (NZ) (Tavistock) was a $250,000 purchase by Pike Racing from Book 1 of Karaka 2020. Originally named Tutukaka, he is a half-brother to the prolific Group One winner Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands). Cavalry has banked more than $700,000 in prize-money, with black-type successes in the Listed Tattersall’s Stakes (1830m) and Listed Geelong Classic (2200m) in Australia along with a second placing in the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie. His Singapore career has so far produced two wins and two placings from nine starts, including a runner-up finish in the Singapore Derby (1800m).
- Don't Forget Boss (NZ) (Preferment) was offered by Wentwood Grange in Book 1 of Karaka 2022, where Riverrock Farm secured him for $30,000. Trainer David Kok later bought him for $75,000 from the Ready to Run Sale. Don’t Forget Boss has won three of his 15 races and has earned S$69,686.
The final edition of the Grand Singapore Gold Cup will be run as the tenth and final race on Saturday’s card at Kranji, with a scheduled start time of 5.40pm local time (10.40pm NZT).
