Study on state of racing in Malaysia

PENANG,  11 June 2005

A private firm will soon be engaged to study the present horseracing industry in Malaysia, which is besited by declining horse population, dwindling crowd on race days and various other problems, particularly doping of horses and illegal bookmaking.

Dato Ong Eng Khuan, chairman of the Totalisator Board of Malaysia (TBM), said this when announcing a grant of RM3 million to the three Malaysian clubs to help them embark on cross-border racing without further delay.

Dato Ong, who is also the President of the Penang Turf Club, also said TBM will soon carry out several projects to help improve the quality of horseracing in the country. "The Police have also been told to act on the illegal bookies," he added.

The grant to be given to the three Malaysian turf clubs is part of move to revive cross-border racing between Malaysia and Singapore.

"Each of the three turf clubs will receive a grant of not less than RM1 million for the purpose of building isolation stables as required by the Agri-food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).

"The TBM will be stressing to the three clubs to carry out this project as soon as possible. This is in line with the government's call to improve bilateral ties with our neighbour Singapore," Ong said.

Each club is required to build 24 isolation stables which should be 100m away from the stables accommodating Malaysian based horses.

Stakes for the Cross-Border Open Races will carry a standard prizemoney of RM200,000 for Class 1, RM130,000 for Class 2, RM100,000 for Class 3 and RM80,000 for Class 4.

The Cross-Border Open Races will have a maximum of seven Singapore horses.

The Singapore authority imposed a ban on the movement of horses from Malaysia into the island republic following the outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis in Malaysia in March 1999 and since then, the three Malaysian clubs and Singapore have been conducting racing on their own.