In the season’s spirit of “away with the old, in with the new”, trainer Desmond Koh has not begun the new Year of the Horse without a spot of spring cleaning himself – even if it means dealing with the “not so new”.
While trainers regularly turn over their stock, the Singaporean handler recently tried something different when he replenished his yard with six Malaysian gallopers through a “package deal”.
After Malaysian trainer Wee Mung Hua unexpectedly handed in his licence at the beginning of the year, one of the owners parting with his horses in the ensuing dispersal sale was a friend of Koh’s.
When approached by the friend, Koh did not pass up the opportunity. He flew up to Kuala Lumpur, liked what he saw, made an offer, and soon headed back down South with half a dozen horses in the shopping bag, the top buys being no doubt Singapore Group 3 winner Rising Empire and the one with the highest rating (85), three-time winner King Empire.
The former Leticia Dragon-trained pair were not the only ones on the float plying the journey across the Causeway in reverse as the remaining four actually all began their racing career at Kranji before relocating to Malaysia: Snow Flame (one start for Brian Dean), and three ex-Shane Baertschigers - Knight Spirit, Harden Up and Sarawi.
Koh – who bought all six horses for himself for an undisclosed amount - has already tested out a couple of his Malaysian imports – or “ex-Singapore exports” – on their old stomping grounds, with new exotic names to boot. First to be rolled out was Sarawi, who has already had two runs under the belt with a fourth as his best result, while Snow Flame, a six-time Malaysian winner Koh renamed Guaricana (inspired by his love of all things tribal), ran on Chinese New Year, beating one home.
With Sarawi and Guaricana having both started at long odds, Koh was not holding his breath for immediate returns, treating this “recycle” venture more as a long-term investment, or “speculation” as he said.
Two more face the starter this weekend. Koh saddles King Empire (now going by the name of Congo Zandor) in Friday’s Kranji Stakes A race over 1100m and Knight Spirit, who scored only one of his five wins in Malaysia, has been nominated in Sunday’s Kranji Stakes C race over 1200m on turf. Koh has booked his two apprentice jockeys for the rides with Tengku Rehaizat on Knight Spirit and Koh Teck Huat on Congo Zandor.
“The deal was right and I didn’t see any reason why not consider taking over my friend’s shares,” said Koh.
“It’s expensive these days to buy new horses as you know. So, when my friend wanted to become less involved with racing when MH Wee left, I went up to Malaysia to have the horses vetted, and they were okay and sound.
“They are certainly decent horses with some residual value in them. This is just like speculation, and I will be happy if we can break even.
“Two of them have run already and this week I’ve entered two more. It’s all about testing the waters first.
“Hopefully they can turn into good bread-and-butter horses worth having a bet and a flutter on.
“I can also get to enjoy the sport as an owner. The prizemoney at the Singapore Turf Club is so good that I don’t mind spending some money myself.”
Koh, who finished at the bottom of the second tier of the ladder last year and whose 2014 season has yet to really take flight with only one winner Big Harvest (January 19) on the board, is not banking on just second-hand horses for that shot in the arm.
“I’ve got three two-year-olds and some US-breds who came as two-year-olds, but who are now three-year-olds,” said Koh, who honed his training craft in America.
“They were not well educated last year and I had to start from scratch.”
As for stable stalwarts like Singapore Derby winner Chase Me and Eclair Fastpass, they have not been seen for a long time, but still figure on Koh’s roster. First Scoop, the handy miler who last ran (unplaced) in the Group 1 Patron’s Bowl (1600m) last June is still not ready, but one exciting mare who is, however, not far from a comeback is Empress Wu.
Koh has pinned high hopes on the Street Sense four-year-old mare, who has not raced since recording her fifth win in a Benchmark 97 race over 1600m last November.
“Empress Wu is coming along well. She will trial this Thursday after a long break,” he said.
“I’ll see how she goes before deciding when she races. The Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge is her main objective this campaign.
“I haven’t had that many runners, with many still resting like First Scoop who probably won’t race for another two months. But the heat has gone on and we’re warming up.
“I know there is some catching up to go, but it’s only the start of the year. I’m sure things will pick up.”
