David Kok took his first steps in horse racing at his home town of Ipoh in 1993 when he was only 20, starting off as a syce with ex-trainer Boyle Chua. He then relocated to Singapore in 1996, spending two years with trainer Mick Kent before moving to Charles Leck’s yard in 1998.
Following a short industrial attachment in Brisbane, Australia with various trainers, the Singapore permanent resident returned to Leck and became his stable supervisor in 2000. As Kok gained more experience, he soon earned his ‘B’ licence in 2005 before he finally got the nod for an ‘A’ licence in 2009.
Though Kok does not saddle many runners in feature races, he was able to land his first Group success in the Group 1 Panasonic Kranji Mile in 2013 with CASH LUCK, who added a second silverware to his trophy cabinet with the Group 3 JBBA Moonbeam Vase the next year.
But the well-named WELL DONE topped that three years later when he gave Kok two successive Group 1 wins in the Patron’s Bowl, followed by the biggest of them all, the Emirates Singapore Derby.
Kok won his first – and Singapore’s last – Gold Cup with Smart Star at Kranji last Oct 5. The Star Witness gelding, ridden by South African Muzi Yeni, came from a long way back to beat Lim’s Saltoro in a nail-biting finish.
“I always wanted to win (the Singapore Gold Cup), and finally, I won the last one,” he said then.
Jason Ong Koon Yew, son of Mr Ong Boon Hin of Warplan Racing Stable, first helped his father out in his business after serving his National Service, but grew to share his father’s passion for racing, deciding in 2011 to study a one-year course in Horse Business Management at Marcus Oldham College in Geelong, Australia.
Upon graduation, Ong worked as a track rider for trainers Peter Moody and John Sadler in Melbourne in 2012 and 2013 before returning to Singapore in 2013 to join New Zealand trainer Mark Walker, where the Warplan Racing Stable-owned Singapore champion galloper War Affair would kick-start his career, as a senior track rider and stable supervisor.
The following year, Ong and War Affair moved over to trainer Alwin Tan, where both enjoyed their highest accolades during a multiple-Group-winning spree that included five at Group 1 level with the 2015 Lion City Cup the career highlight.
In 2016, War Affair and Ong joined New Zealand trainer Bruce Marsh, where Ong became assistant-trainer for the next three years, before officially being granted his trainer’s licence and taking over the retired-Marsh’s string of horses in September 2019.
Richard Lim was a former Malaysian champion jockey who was first indentured to the late Lim Hoon Hooi. The tall jockey rode 262 winners in a successful 16-year-long career across both sides of the Causeway, most memorably, the 2006 Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) on KING AND KING when he was presented his trophy by Her Majesty the Queen herself. Other feature wins include the 2007 Group 2 EW Barker Trophy with WORLD AIRLINES and two Tunku Gold Cups in Kuala Lumpur with AFTER ME PLEASE (2002) and GOLDEN RAINBOW (2006). Lim hung up his boots in 2015 due to increasing weight and went on to work with King And King’s trainer Steven Burridge as a senior track rider before obtaining his assistant-trainer’s licence in 2016. At the end of that season, he joined trainer Jason Lim (no relation). Lim, who has a brother Wayne Lim Woei Chet who trains in Kuala Lumpur, was granted stables at Kranji at the start of 2022. Lim took home his first Group win after SUPER SALUTE won the Group 3 New Year Cup (1200m) at the first meeting in 2024.
Singaporean Mahadi Taib spent his childhood days at the stables at the Bukit Timah racecourse, where his father worked as a syce. He first joined former trainer Buang Abu Bakar, the father of ex-STC trainer Mohd Yusof, as a syce at the age of 17.
After completing his National Service, Mahadi continued to work as a syce for Yusof and New Zealand trainer Paddy Busuttin at Bukit Timah. Mahadi joined trainer Michael Clements in 1998 where he gradually rose to the rank of a stable supervisor, before obtaining his assistant-trainer’s licence in 2009.
Since then, he worked with various trainers including Theo Kieser, Young Keah Yong, David Hill and John O’Hara before moving to Jason Lim’s stable to work in the same capacity in January 2022. In June 2022, Mahadi was granted stabling facilities in Singapore.
Singaporean Leck Kai Jin started his career in the racing industry as a Syce on 3 February 2009 at the Singapore Turf Club under the employment of his uncle, trainer Charles Leck and later moved to work in the stables of Trainer David Kok for 6 years.
In August 2016, he moved to Selangor Turf Club and was attached to trainer Charles Leck and continued to work as a Syce. After 8 months in Kuala Lumpur, MRA upgraded his employment as a Track Rider.
Subsequently, MRA granted him with a Stable Supervisor Licence in August 2017. In April 2019, he returned to his former employer David Kok in Singapore Turf Club and performed as a Stable Supervisor. On 8 January 2021 he obtained his B-Grade Trainer Licence.
32 year old Kai Jin became the youngest trainer in the MRA circuit when MRA granted him the A Trainers License in April 2024. He has a total of 15 years of working experience in the racing industry out of which, he worked as an Assistant Trainer for 3 year.
Tan Eng Peow started his career in the racing industry as a syce on 20 June 2007 under the employment of trainer SB Tan. He had also worked in similar capacity with trainers Tony Yeoh, KM Noordin, CW Robert, PS Kumaran, V Nathan and Osman Sidek.
On 19 March 2013 he was upgraded to the status of Stable Supervisor by the MRA. On 30 July 2019 whilst still working under trainer M Sukri, he obtained his B-Grade Trainer licence. He continued work with trainer KP Hoy for a period of 2 years. Subsequently, on 12 January 2022 he commenced serving in Trainer MP Thwaites’s stable as his Assistant Trainer until he was granted an “A” Trainer License.
V Sivan commenced his jockey career in 1982 and rode in MRA Circuit until 2013. He rode away major successes including Perak Derby (three times) , Selangor Tunku Gold Cup (twice), Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Singapore Gold Cup.
He hang up his riding boots in 2013 and became a Senior Track Rider in Trainer Mok Zhan Lun’s stable in April 2015. On 22 March 2016, he was upgraded to the status of Stable Supervisor by the MRA. He was subsequently transferred to Trainer Mohd Sukri in 2017.
He obtained his Assistant Trainer license on 31 July 2018. On 9 July 2019, he commenced serving in Trainer Malcolm Thwaites’s stable as his Assistant Trainer until he was granted an “A” Trainer License. As of to date Sivan has had a total of 29 years of working experience in the racing industry.
Career Highlights:
- Elite Remarkable – Coronation Cup 2022
