Waikato hoop Darren Danis has returned to New Zealand content in the knowledge that he has fulfilled a lifelong dream of riding a winner at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore.
The Singapore native had been inspired to follow his father into a career in the saddle and began riding track work at Kranji before the opportunity arose to move to New Zealand a decade ago.
The 32-year-old rider has enjoyed plenty of success in New Zealand, recording 101 wins, including two at stakes level, but he still had an itch to compete on the track where it all began.
With Kranji’s imminent closure in October, it was now or never for Danis to head back to his homeland to ride, and he secured a contract with the Singapore Turf Club which commenced in April.
“It was very nostalgic riding in Singapore,” Danis said. “It was where it all began and it was great catching up with Brian Dean (trainer, former employer) who was happy for me.
“But it was quite sad to see how racing has gone, knowing that it is all going to finish on the 5th of October. It was a bittersweet moment.”
With the closure of the Macau Jockey Club in April, there was an influx of jockeys to Singapore upon Danis’ arrival, and he said that made it hard for him to gain any traction.
“I went at the wrong time because there was an abundance of jockeys rather than horses,” he said.
“I was lucky to get three or four rides a weekend. It wasn’t easy, you still had to put the hard yards in. The top jockeys were there from Monday to Saturday, and it was quite difficult to get a ride.
“But the whole Singapore Turf Club and trainers were very welcoming and hospitable.”
Danis rode just the one winner during his time in Singapore, but he was rapt that he was able to fulfil that lifelong dream in front of his family.
“I only rode one winner, Run Buddy Run,” he said. “As much as I would have loved to have ridden more, it was good to get that one win and tick that off the bucket list.”
Danis was glad he was able to compete in front of his family and he said his win aboard Run Buddy Run may have attracted a new generation of his family to the sport.
“Riding in front of the family was great, they were there every weekend,” he said.
“I hadn’t seen my Granddad for five years, so it was good to see him. My niece is nearly three and I hadn’t spent much time with her. Unfortunately, she couldn’t come to the races because you can’t go to the races in Singapore until you are 18, but she was watching on TV and she is now even saying ‘Run Buddy Run’.”
Danis said riding in Singapore took a bit to get used to, particularly having to ride at such a light weight.
“They race very competitively over there and it is such a different style, they go faster. It was quite good to ride against the best (jockeys) there,” he said.
“I had to ride 52kg every weekend. They ride light over there, they even claim at 52kg. I hadn’t ridden over 150 winners, so I still had my 1kg claim.
“I did a lot of running to get my weight down, trying to balance with the food I ate – all the food that I have craved and missed for a long time.”
While in Singapore, Danis said there was no shortage of visitors from New Zealand.
“Some friends of mine from New Zealand came over to watch,” he said. “Corey Campbell, my manager Sam Durrant, Masa Hashizume and Kylan Wiles all came over and had a great time. It was good to show them my home.”
Danis arrived back in New Zealand last Friday and said he is giving himself a week to settle back in before kicking off his season.
“I always planned to come back in August because the new season has started and I didn’t want to lose out,” he said.
“The last few meetings (in Singapore) are likely to be the same horses running and they are going to get less horses and it will be even harder to get rides then. I thought it was a good idea to come home and start my season here and try and get on the good ones.
“I am going to freelance again and will come back to Matamata more often (to ride track work) and hopefully things play out even better.”
