Horse racing is popular in several Asian Countries and these countries house some of the oldest and the most popular race courses. Horse racing was introduced in Singapore by the British during the colonial era. Till now it is one of the most popular forms of entertainment for the Singaporean community. The races are generally held on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays.
Many roads in Singapore have been named after the horse Singapore Horse Racing like Race Course Road in Little India where horse racing was first held in Singapore and Turf Club Road at Bukit Timah where Singapore Turf Club was situated before moving to its current locale at 1999.
Types of Horse Racing
• Flat Racing: It is the most common type of horse racing across the World. Flat racing tracks are typically oval in shape and its mostly level, in many places, figure of eight tracks are used with severe gradients but the track surfaces vary everywhere.
• Jump Racing: Jump racing is also known as National hunt racing. It is again divided into steeple chasing and hurdling, according to the size of the hurdles and obstructions given that is being jumped and crossed by the horse.
• Endurance Racing: The length of endurance race varies greatly. Some are short while there are some which extremely long. These are again divided into different categories based on distance pleasure rides, non competitive trail rides, competitive trail rides, progressive trail rides and the endurance rides. These rides are extremely long covering miles that are reason trails of natural terrains are mostly used.
• Harness Racing: Where the horses run while pulling a driver in the sulky.
Rules and Regulation of the Race Course
• A rider has to win certain number of races after which they are allowed to participate in the Singapore Turf course.
• Female horses taking part in the race must be minimum or above four years of age.
• Different horse breeds have rules and restriction to follow.
• Training of horses also varies depending on the distance they are covering.
• There are various other factors too – genetics, race, surroundings – it has an impact on the horses performance.
• A horse’s fitness plan is must be co ordinate properly so as to prevent injuries or accidents.
Horse racing was bought to the World by the British and is one of the most popular horse games of the World for one of the longest times. People enjoy the game; the game is immensely popular among the people of all strata.
