The curtain comes down on Singapore racing on Saturday evening with the Grand Singapore Gold Cup the final race in the Singapore Turf Club's 182-year history. Craig Brennan shares his favourite memory.
There have been numerous champions grace the turf, firstly at Bukit Timah and more recently Kranji, none more so than Rocket Man who took followers on a ride, not only in Singapore, but also in Hong Kong, Japan and famously on World Cup Night in Dubai.
Rocket Man won 18 of his 20 starts in Singapore, being defeated twice in the KrisFlyer International Sprint, firstly by Hong Kong champion Sacred Kingdom in 2009 and then Green Birdie the following year, before finally attaining his win in the feature sprint in 2011, a deserved victory for his trainer Patrick Shaw and owner Fred Crabbia.
The Australian-bred sprinter was unstoppable against Singapore's local sprinters, winning four Lion City Cups, and resulted in the Singapore Turf Club altering their returns on winning bets when more than $14 million was wagered on Rocket Man in October 2010, when he returned a win dividend of $1.20 for each $1 invested.
Not all was plain sailing for Rocket Man though, as he was sidelined with a hairline condylar fracture of the off-side cannon bone, requiring an operation to insert screws and box rest, and then later suspensory ligament problems in his other foreleg.
Rocket Man did not race again after winning the Lion City Cup in April 2012, although he was seen around Kranji until his official retirement in December 2016 where he was shipped off to Cape Town in South Africa to live out his days.
It will be a sad occasion at Kranji, but hopefully a memorable one. You can find all the final day fields here.