SINGAPORE,  15 Jan 2009

Singapore Turf Club (SNTC) will introduce races restricted to claiming riders beginning with the first race (1200m) next Friday.

Two more races will be staged on Feb 28 (1400m) and March 21 (1600m). And if these three races prove successful, SNTC said in a recent circular that this initiative can be continued throughout the year.

"Many racing jurisdictions conduct periodic races restricted to apprentice riders. These races provide an opportunity for the less experienced riders to compete against each other and hopefully improved their skills," SNTC vice president (racing) Michael Wanklin said.

"The situation in Singapore is such that our pool of apprentices being marginal to possibly sustain full fields of riders, it has been decided that should we have similar type races here, we should open up the eligible riders list to all our 'claiming' riders.

Footnote: Malaysia and Singapore used to stage "apprentices only" races regularly till the early seventies.