Mr Koh was speaking at the 2003 Singapore racing awards gala dinner cum presentation ceremony here tonight.

The SNTC expect the turnover will further improve as the it will be introducing more exotic bet types, starting with the Double Trio in April. Mr Koh said the Double Trio should appeal to many regular racegoers and non-regulars alike as it will be quite a challenge to pick the first three horses in two races and the winning dividends are likely to be big.

"The last two seasons had not been plain sailing, or galloping, for Singapore racing. Like most of the major racing countries around the world, we are all affected by the economic downturn and face common challenges of declining turnovers, flat raceday attendances, declining profits and fierce competition for the limited consumer dollar. In addition, we had SARS in the region requiring us to cancel the Singapore Airlines International Cup last year.

"At the previous two Awards functions in 2002 and 2003, I had reported that the Club’s totalisator turnovers had fallen. Unfortunately, this trend continued last year. The Club’s totalisator turnover for 2003 declined by nearly 4%, from $1.62 billion in 2002 to $1.56 billion last year. Just as with other businesses in Singapore, we were hard hit by the SARS outbreak and the severe downturn in the economy.

"On a more positive note however, the Club’s totalisator turnover has begun to improve in the first quarter of this year. We expect this upward trend to continue since the economic outlook for Singapore is improving. We expect the turnover will further improve as the Club will be introducing more exotic bet types, starting with the Double Trio in April. The Double Trio should appeal to many regular racegoers and non-regulars alike as it will be quite a challenge to pick the first three horses in two races and the winning dividends are likely to be big. We will also continue to take ‘live’ telecast of races from Hong Kong Jockey Club and selected Western Australian Turf Club races as these have proven increasingly popular with our racegoers."

Mr Koh said the SNTC will spare no effort to attract good owners and trainers and will continue to provide the necessary infrastructure, including facilities and appropriate incentives. I take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to two new trainers, Daniel Murphy from Ireland and Len Treloar from Australia, and their families to Singapore. They bring with them a wealth of experience. Over the next few months, three to four additional new trainers will be joining the Kranji family.

"As all of you are aware, in a major initiative to encourage more people to become horse owners, we had set up three racing trusts. The trusts now have 130 stakeholders who, together, own a total of 13 horses. The stakeholders range in age from 23 to 83. It is indeed encouraging that professionals, both young and old, have taken an interest in horse-ownership. Our intention is to introduce a few more such racing trusts in the near future. It is heartening to note that several of the stakeholders, having been introduced to the excitement of horse-ownership, have gone further and now ventured into owning horses individually, which augurs well for the industry.

"The Club is ever-mindful that horseracing must make economic sense for the key players in the industry, including the Club. That is, owners, trainers and jockeys. For many of the owners here, horse racing is a passion and a hobby. But, even then, you expect some returns from racing your horses to help defray the costs of ownership. After a review last year, we introduced the REWARD scheme in January this year to help with the upkeep of horses for the majority of owners. For the trainers, racing is your livelihood and for overseas trainers who come to Kranji, this is your reason for coming here with your families. We share your concerns about your rising costs, bad debts and cash flow problems and we have taken measures to address these. Other concerns, such as sufficient racing opportunities for horses, financial returns to owners, and adequate compensation for jockeys, will be reviewed regularly by my Committee and where necessary, improvements will be made taking into account the overall economics of racing as a whole.

"One area which had been a major concern to owners and trainers in the past, where we have made significant improvements last year, is the racing and training tracks at the racecourse and, in particular, to the fibresand track. The injury rate suffered by horses

during training is now very much reduced, to about 5%, which is one of the lowest in the world.

Another area of improvement, Mr Koh said, was in the area of detection of prohibited substances. "We have invested heavily in upgrading the Club’s laboratory to enable it to detect a wider range of prohibited substances, including ‘designer drugs’. Over the years, Singapore racing has established a reputation of high integrity and quality both in the region as well as internationally. We adopted tough but transparent policies, established a fair adjudication system and maintained an effective drug testing regime. Maintaining the highest standard of integrity will continue to be our guiding principle. It has to be if we are to attract future racegoers and owners and sustain viability of horseracing in the face of the many challenges.

"For Singapore racing to survive and, indeed, to thrive, all of us in this room must work in concert. There will, of course, be times when we may not agree with each other, but at the end of the day, the Club must make decisions based on the common good for the industry. We need the assistance of each and every industry player to further grow racing as a sport and entertainment business for the benefit of all parties in the industry. We, at the Club, will do our best to provide a framework which allows racing of the highest integrity and standard to flourish. And to these ends we will meet with you regularly, the owners, trainers and others, to have your views and feedback as we set policies to take racing forward.

"I applaud the recent formation of the Thoroughbred Owners Association and Sports Trust or TOAST for short. The Association is certainly a step in the right direction. For some time now, the Club has been calling for such an Association to be formed to represent the interests of Singapore owners, a formal group we can work closely with to discuss concerns and issues pertaining to Singapore owners and I am glad that this has come about at this timely juncture.

"Moving on to a different matter now, you are aware that the Ministry of Finance recently announced that the Singapore Totalisator Board would acquire Singapore Pools in a move by the Government to bring all wagering and lottery activities under one

body. The date for this merger is now 1 May 2004. With this merger, the Club’s 4-D business will be transferred to Pools although the Club will continue to be an agent for the sale of 4-D, Toto, and football betting.

"The advantage of this change is that the Club will be able to focus and concentrate fully on racing to improve it as a sport and business. However, it will also mean that we will no longer have the benefits of the significant cross subsidy of our horseracing business from our 4-D business. It will be a challenge to the Committee and management of the Club to manage this change and yet achieve our vision of what we want to see in horseracing. I want to assure all of you that this the Committee and management are fully committed to doing.

"Looking forward, there are challenges for Singapore racing, which are not unlike those faced in many other racing centres. But the economy is on the upswing and we look forward to working with all of you to meet the many challenges ahead. Our efforts will continue to be focused on several fronts, namely, to generate greater revenue from horseracing; to be mindful that racing must make economic sense