Kranji Racecourse

History

In 1994, STC appointed a team comprising Indeco Consultants and Ewing Cole Cherry and Brott to design the Kranji Racecourse.

A trial run of the racecourse with 5,000 visitors was done on 31 July and 1 August 1999.

On 25 September 1999, Kranji Racecourse hosted its inaugural race, which was also Singapore's first night race. However after the first race, which started at 5.30pm SST, was concluded, a power trip caused a power failure, resulting in subsequent races being postponed. The President of Singapore Wee Kim Wee, who was the patron of STC, arrived during the power failure and had to wait outside of the racecourse complex till power was restored. Power was restored after about two hours later and the second race was restarted at 7.50pm. As a result of the delay, the last race which was to be the eighth race for the night was cancelled. STC later said the power trip was due to an electrical fault at four of the 41 light masts around the track.

The Singapore Turf Club has hosted a number of important domestic races as well as two major international events, the Singapore Airlines International Cup and the KrisFlyer International Sprint.

Features

The racecourse covered 124 hectares has a capacity of 30,000 spectators with a five-storey grandstand. The main racetrack is 31m wide and 2,000m long on the long course and turfed with El Toro-Zoysia grass.

It also has 41 light masts, allowing night races to be conducted at the racecourse.

Transport

Kranji station is linked to the nearby STC via a sheltered walkway. Designed to accommodate crowds visiting STC during race events, Kranji station is the largest station on the Woodlands extension. The 1300 m2 concourse level is three times larger than those at other stations with many fare gates to allow efficient crowd flow. The station has twice the number of escalators and stairs (four escalators and two stairs) and the direction of the escalators could be varied depending on the crowd flow.

References

References

1. Rashiwala, Kaipana. (10 December 1994). "Turf Club appoints design team for Kranji racecourse". [[The Straits Times]].
2. Tay, Cheng Koon. (15 July 1999). "Punters, on your marks". [[The Straits Times]].
3. Tan, Tean Loon. (1 August 1999). "Kranji course 'beyond expectation'". [[The New Paper]].
4. Miller, Brian. (26 September 1999). "What a night". [[The New Paper]].
5. Robert, Godfrey. (26 September 1999). "Night racing hit by power failure". [[The Straits Times]].
6. Tan, Tean Loon. (26 September 1999). "Power failure mars big night". [[The New Paper]].
7. Goh, Yan Han. (5 June 2023). "S’pore Turf Club to close Kranji racecourse by March 2027 to make way for housing, other uses". The Straits Times.
8. "Singapore Turf Club: A lookback, through the archives".
9. (16 July 1999). "FAST FACTS OF KRANJI RACECOURSE". [[The New Paper]].
10. (1 June 1995). "Kranji MRT station to handle race crowds". The Straits Times.