Jockey Club officials will meet on Tuesday to discuss options for filling the top level race programming void left after the Singapore Turf Club bombshell that its international races in May would be discontinued immediately.
Hong Kong horses have won the past three runnings of both the Singapore International Airlines Cup and the KrisFlyer International Sprint and have dominated with one-two finishes on several occasions, but the Singapore club on Monday issued a release saying the meeting had achieved all it had set out to do.
Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges wore two hats as he responded to the news - one as a Hong Kong official and the other as chairman of the Asian Racing Federation.
"It is disappointing to have two such high-profile races disappear from the Asian region. Singapore had been successful in attracting horses from many parts of the world, but we had heard rumours and now we have the confirmation," he said.
"Speaking as Hong Kong Jockey Club chief executive, our horses did very well in Singapore, so it is one less chance for them to shine overseas, but now we will look at what changes we can make to our own programme, which might fill the gap.
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"Some of our races had been programmed specifically to mesh with Singapore, so horses could compete in both places, but now that is not necessary.
"We will meet on Tuesday and discuss our options, but we need to decide quickly. The Group racing schedule for the year is ratified at the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities meeting after the Arc weekend in Paris and that is this weekend."
Singapore Turf Club's statement said the international races had been established at the turn of the century with particular goals, including "branding Singapore races internationally and uplifting the quality of Singapore horses and Singapore racing".
"Both international races, together with Singapore racing, have grown in stature and prestige over the years," it said.
This is not the first time international races have been dropped by Singapore - the Cup was deleted in 2003, while the KrisFlyer was dropped for six years after the 2002 running.
Top big-money trainer John Moore has won the Cup the last three years with Military Attack and Dan Excel (twice) and was disappointed.
"People will think that I'm only saying this because we've won the Cup the last few times, but it isn't about the money. It's a crying shame to lose these international races in Singapore because it was a really well-run, professional meeting."
Caspar Fownes has taken Lucky Nine to the KrisFlyer for the past three years, winning twice, and he also won the sprint with Green Birdie and finished second in this year's Cup. "It's disappointing to lose these sorts of opportunities," he said.
