The Big 10 will in the end not happen for nine-time Singapore champion trainer Laurie Laxon. The veteran handler is pulling up stumps and returning to his native New Zealand to continue his illustrious training career.

On Wednesday, the 71-year-old dropped the bombshell that the current Singapore season underway is likely to be his last.

The man who has won all the feature races at Kranji since relocating in 2000 bar the two international races – now discontinued - has not set a date yet for his farewell meeting, but is tentatively looking at September.

For the moment, it is business as usual for the master trainer, who still has around 45 horses on his books - a far cry from the big strings (once as many as 100) he used to prepare in his heyday.

 

Laxon did not link up the drop in numbers and wins (he currently sits in 11th spot on 17 winners) to his sudden decision to depart but it is a fact that his goal to annex a 10th premiership title after his last one in 2014 was starting to slip through his fingers.

His ranking slid to fourth in 2015 (Mark Walker won), and eighth last year (Alwin Tan won). Major trophies were not scooped up by the spades like they used to be during his dominant years.

But Laxon said it was just the right time to leave Singapore when he was still healthy, and he will always look back at the last 17 years with great fondness.

“It’s been a wonderful experience, but it’s time to go, while I’m still healthy. I’ve won nine champion trainer titles, won every feature race there except for the SIA Cup and the KrisFlyer - I’ve done it all,” said the horseman who was the fourth generation in his family to train horses (his great-grandfather Owen Curran-McGee, an Irish vet, was the first)

“I still remember my beginnings here. George Simon, who was then the race caller at Kranji, rang me up and asked me if I wanted to train in Singapore.

“At first, I wasn’t so keen, as I didn’t want to travel up to Ipoh or Penang, but he told me Singapore was a standalone meeting then. I discussed with my wife Sheila, and as I was going to the Darwin Cup to run St Clair on the first Monday of August, I decided to fly a little further up north to have a look around after the Cup.

“The place looked great, I had to think about it, but in the end, I went for it. Things got off to a slow start, though.

“I had only 25 horses in my first full season and 16 winners. I was told my occupancy rate was too low.

“I actually had six new horses, but I didn’t want to run them as it would not have much impact halfway through the season against the likes of Charles Leck or Malcolm Thwaites.

“So, I raced them the next year, had another eight in February and by May and June, I had 100 horses! I had to send some to Bukit Timah.

“Things just snowballed from there. I finished second in the premiership the next year (2001), second again in 2002, then third in 2003 – and then I won the next six in a row (he then lost out to Steven Burridge and Patrick Shaw in 2010 and 2011 respectively before winning the next three).

“I’ve been lucky to have very good owners throughout these 17 years, and rest assured I am working with the Singapore Turf Club and other trainers to make sure they have good alternatives for their horses.”

Laxon will for now look at padding up his current score of 1,249 winners until he begins a new chapter to his successful career. Once his Singapore licence is relinquished, he will return to New Zealand to train for his good friend Sir Peter Vela from his Maungatautari farm in Waikato.

The170-acre property which Laxon owns and comprises modern training facilities like a two-mile track and an aquapool among others, is currently being used by trainers Stephen Ramsay and Julia Ritchie.

Whether the legendary trainer will unearth another Empire Rose, his Melbourne Cup winner in 1988, Romanee Conti (the best horse he trained who never won a Group 1 race, he always said), Riverina Charm, Champagne or Clear Water at his original backyard, remains to be seen, but he is certainly excited with the new venture, which he said came totally off the cuff.

“I was having a chat with Sir Peter Vela about my intention to call it quits here, and I just told him I’d train for him if he wanted, and he said, well, I haven’t had a three-year-old filly who won in 18 months.

“He was on board but we had to let Stephen Ramsay know first. He was training from my training property which I built from nothing, it has 37 boxes and a training track which you do two miles without running it twice.

“Seven Melbourne Cup runners came out from there. Two won (Empire Rose and Ethereal – trained by his wife Sheila) and two ran second (Empire Rose and Champagne), so it’s not bad at all.

“Stephen will be moving to Sir Peter’s other farm where he will also get good horses from the Pencarrow Stud.

“Sir Peter has 70 broodmares, and we will kick off with around 30 to 40 horses. I will still own horses with CK (Chian Kin) Phua (Oscar Racing) in Singapore, and I will fly over very often. So, this is not a goodbye to Singapore.”

Laxon and Vela go a long way as they, together with Vela’s late brother Philip, claimed countless successes over the years, such as Noble Heights and Clear Rose, but most famously the 1992 Hong Kong International Cup with Romanee Conti.

When asked if he had any regrets, Laxon said he had none, even if he missed out in the SIA Cup and KrisFlyer.

“I had a great inning in Singapore. Even if I didn’t win the International races, I came close a few times,” said Laxon.

“Recast ran second once (2008) and Waikato was just amazing, he ran three times in the SIA Cup, finishing third and fourth, and he also twice ran fourth in the KrisFlyer. Waikato was one of the best horses I trained in Singapore, but the best was Better Than Ever, closely followed by Waikato and Top Spin.

“I’ve enjoyed my time in Singapore and I’d like to thank the Singapore Turf Club and Mr Soong Tze Ming (Chief Operating Officer) for giving me the opportunity to do this.

“I won 1,000 races with Alan on July 19, 2013 and I’ve trained another 250 winners since. I don’t think I will hit the 1,300 mark, but it’s a good figure. I’ve had a great time in Singapore and I’m very proud of what I achieved.”

Laxon has won every feature race on the Singapore calendar at least once and some as many as five times, like the Kranji Mile and Chairman's Trophy. Among his biggest wins, he won two Singapore Gold Cups, Raul (2004) and Recast (2007), two Singapore Derbies, Dreyfuss (2004) and Top Spin (2008) one Lion City Cup with Why Be (2007). Among the feature races he won four times are the Raffles Cup, Singapore Guineas, Patron's Bowl and Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

He also prepared the Singapore Horse of the Year on five occasions, became the first trainer to win 100 races in a season in 2004, bettering that record with 104 winners in 2008. He also became the first trainer to win 1,000 races at Kranji.

On February 12, 2016, Laxon was inducted in the New Zealand racing Hall of Fame.