I never thought I would attend a horse racing event, place a wager on a horse race and even better, win it.
But I did. All on one night!
It all happened when I was invited by the Singapore Turf Club to their Queen Elizabeth II Cup that took place last month.
Read this quick recount of my adventures at this prestigious annual horse race. 🙂
In 1972, the Singapore Turf Club introduced the Queen Elizabeth II cup when Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II paid her first visit to the Bukit Timah Racecourse. Since then, it has become a tradition of the turf club to celebrate this memorable visit in pomp and pageantry fashion with the organization of the glamorous Queen Elizabeth II Cup race (QEII Cup) every year.
This year, the event was held on April 26 at the Marquee of the Singapore Racecourse and ‘your humble blogger’ was invited! 😀
I was also given a guest invitation, so I asked B along. 😀
The theme is Victorian Affair so I wore a cocktail dress and adorned it with a cute fascinator that was made by the lovely folks of the Singapore Turf Club.
B also wore a hat to go with the theme. Looking suave! Haha!
And we’re ready to rock and roll!
Upon arrival, we received a warm welcome by some Victorian costume minglers who graciously agreed to take not one but several photos with us. I don’t wanna flood this page with too many photos so only showing the best one (below). 😛
Jessie, Head of the turf club’s Digital Media department kindly offered to take us on a tour around the club before dinner commenced.
Then we went to the Marquee (where the party was held) and was immediately greeted by a flamboyant and glamorously dressed crowd. Think The Great Gatsby.
From left to right: Regina, Karen, Jessie, Janice, Vikki and me
Certainly felt like celebrities. 😛
Paparazzi galore!
It was the turf club’s first Ladies’ Night of the Year so not only did we ladies get to relish a sumptuous buffet spread, we were also generously treated to delicious cocktails, professional henna services and pampering manicures.
This was done in less than 5 minutes!
With the talented artist of my henna tattoo. 🙂
On top of beauty services, there was also a fashion bazaar where ladies could satisfy their shopping urge.
The activities do not end here. We were also entertained by belly dancing performances and contestants of the Best Hat on Track contest who wowed us with their catwalk moves.
While we were sipping fine wine and enjoying the host of exciting activities organized by the Singapore Turf Club, the boys on the racetrack were contesting for a whopping SGD350,000 prize money.
Jessie made sure we were not left out of the action and excitement, so she brought us to the parade ring where we could get up close but not so personal with the race horses.
The reason why we can’t get too close is because they might kick us with their back feet should they feel threatened or agitated. So here we are, 2 metres away from the giant ponies.
Then I spotted No. 6 winking at me!
Jessie said it was a sign – Tim (No.6) was trying to ‘establish a connection’ with me. So she suggested that I bet on him later.
And so I did!
That’s us with Tim in the background.
We watched as the jockeys led their winning horses to the racetrack.
Bye horsies! Good luck! Especially you Tim! 😛
Jessie brought us to an exclusive spot where we had an unobstructed view of the starting barrier.
And let the race begin!
And Tim came up trumps! Yay! And so did I, in a way. Won 22 bucks!
Guess what’s this for?
It is a weighing scale for the riders.
So why do we need to weigh them?
According to Jessie, this is to ensure there’s no discrepancy in their weights before the race and after to prevent cheating.
So riders are required to ‘weigh out’ before the race which involves standing with full riding equipment, on the digital scale in front of the Clerk of the Scales. After the race, riders ‘weigh in’ to identify any weight differences. And should there be a difference, the Clerk of the Scales will lodge an objection with the Stewards, who will automatically hold an enquiry. The horse involved will be disqualified.
Here we are with star jockey Joao Moreira. He was the jockey who rode on Tim and ultimately, led him to victory. Kudos to you Joao!
Finally, please allow me to sum up the night’s eye-opening and fun-filled activities with this video. 🙂
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Your friend, Juliana
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