Michael Clements, Louis-Philippe Beuzelin, Shafrizal Saleh, Bernardo Pinheiro are some of the names that have recently gone missing from a Singapore racecard.
The common push factor for the start of this exodus was the closure of Singapore racing on Oct 5, 2024.
While Beuzelin, Shafrizal and Pinheiro are pursuing their riding careers overseas, Clements has simply called it a day.
Another trainer has joined the 2020 Singapore champion trainer on the exit list - Hideyuki Takaoka.
But Kranji's sole resident Japanese trainer is the only one whose hand had not been forced by Singapore racing's doomsday.
The 67-year-old had already planned to hang up his binoculars by 2023. If anything, the news had the reverse effect - it put off his retirement plans by five months.
"It was always my plan to stop training in June 2023. I was supposed to hand over to (assistant trainer) Ryo (Hatano)," he said.
"But, when the announcement came, it upset all our plans. Ryo could not train for only one year.
"I couldn't just stop either, who would look after the horses? So I stayed for another five months." The end of Takaoka's 21-yearlong Singapore journey got an unscheduled "stay of execution".
But, weekly paltry entries, horses retiring every week were all signs of a business winding up.
Esta historia es de la edición November 24, 2023 de The Straits Times.
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Esta historia es de la edición November 24, 2023 de The Straits Times.
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