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Jockey Wong Chin Chuen felt like he was walking into a surreal world when he jumped back on a horse at Kranji around three weeks ago.
The Malaysian was out on "enforced holiday" - the euphemism for a suspension - when the rest of Kranji was blindsided by the racing closure announcement on June 5.
Even though he had gone to Japan for a quick getaway with his family, Wong picked up the shocking news from the media.
But he could not be on track to commiserate with the other jockeys and close-knit racing family.
Wong's back-to-back suspensions (both for careless riding on Pacific Bao Bei) were to end on July 2, but he had planned to ride trackwork one week earlier.
He straightaway sensed something was amiss that morning.
"The mood was gone. Everybody was sad and quiet," said Wong.
"We normally chit-chat and joke around with everybody at morning trackwork. But nobody was in the mood any more, it felt strange.
"There's nothing we can do about it. We just keep going." At least, his first day back riding - since May 27 - gave him something to cheer about.
This story is from the July 15, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the July 15, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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