Ex-pat Kiwi trainer Donna Logan will spend the next few days putting the logistics in place for her Kranji-based stable to cope with the new regulations imposed by a Singapore Ministry of Health directive that will see Singapore racing put on hiatus until at least May 4 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new restrictions have left plenty of questions still unanswered for Logan and her fellow trainers although she expects the Singapore Turf Club will be able to offer some solutions as she prepares both her stable and personal household for the tighter lockdown restrictions.
“I’m actually out buying my Koi fish their food and getting supplies for the house as we get ready for lockdown over the next month,” Logan said when contacted.
Photo: Trish Dunell
“It has come as a bit of a surprise as we were ticking along quite well but when you think about it Singapore has a hell of a population in quite a small area and there have been a couple of outbreaks which have closed schools which meant things have come to a bit of a standstill.
“It does mean we have plenty to do to get prepared and there are still a number of areas that need to be cleared up which are a little concerning when it comes to our horses and our staff.”
One of Logan’s first priorities is to apply to become classed as an essential service to enable critical access to her stable operation and to tend to the horses in her care.
“We have just had a meeting to tell us we have to apply to become an essential service,” she said.
“The Club haven’t notified us yet as whether we can still work on the track although I would guess we should know by Monday.
“We will apply to the government and we have to hope they don’t restrict the staff numbers too much as all of our horses are boxed and you can’t leave them in a box for a month.
“You have to walk them or use the treadmill and we have sixty boxes to muck out which you can’t do with one person.
“Some of the stables have their Malaysian workers living on site as if you sent them home there was the risk you might not see them again due to border restrictions. So, we have been allowed to accommodate most of our Malaysian staff on site and we have to hope the government will let that continue.
“Everything is up in the air but everyone is in the same boat so you can’t stress about what you don’t know about yet and I’m sure the Club will be doing all they can to make things work.”
Logan is philosophical about the current situation and the potential outcomes for Singapore racing.
“We have just driven past the commemorative site in Kranji where the Japanese invaded Singapore,” she said.
“When you think about it in that context and the devastation and panic of those times, we have it pretty good where we can go home and watch television, we have our phones, our food and the like.
“For racing I think one of our main goals has to be to keep our owners happy so we are pleading with the Club to give us some assistance that we can pass on to our owners.
“Something like a rebate on our rent or power for the stables would be good as we can pass that on to give the owners a discount and help them out.”
Logan admits the restrictions imposed recently that saw Singapore racing reduced from two meetings a week to just one (and now none) had put a halt on a very promising season for her stable.
“I think a few weeks ago, before we moved to racing once a week, we were sitting around fourth on the trainer’s premiership,” she said.
“Since then we’ve gone backwards a little as we just haven’t been able to get enough starts for our team.
“With the balloting we just haven’t had the horses getting to run that we would like. We just can’t get the starters as I think we had seventeen nominated to race and we would have been lucky to get four of them a run.
“We have nice stock though so we will kick back once we are back in the full swing of things, whenever that might be.”
