Almost any girl would be thrilled to pieces to receive My Little Pony for a present.
Meet one girl who woke to the clip-clop of four feet, of a racehorse, named for her.
Miss Jaylian See was led to a bridle the end of which was attached to a beautiful filly, christianed Princess Jay.
Jaylian confessed she was expecting a gift closer to a Bulgari watch, not a brown coat and four hooves shod in horseshoes, shipped from Hokkaido, price tag $200,000.
The boyfriend, who’d rather stay out of the stable for this interview, is a doctor who owns 35 racehorses.
Princess Jay is two years old, has won one race, and is now “convalescing” an injury.
Jaylian said: “We have 22 horses actively running and training, three in Japan, one in New Zealand, four in Australia.”
The pretty and perky Miss See, a Singapore Girl at 17, is 44 and does not look anything even near 33.
“For four years I saw the world’s hotels. Before that I wanted to model. There was a swimwear job, paying $70. My father said, ‘I pay you $140 not to do it’.”
She first trod on racing turf three and a half years ago, when she met her partner. Princess Jay was the first anniversary present. (There have been an African safari and an Alaska cruise since.)
In her crushed raspberry Stella McCartney cocktail dress and Pomellato jewellery and kittenish heels, you’d rather have thought her a lady who has tai-tai lunches and teas before racing off to a socialite evening.
Social event
No such eventing, Jaylian’s calendar is fully pencilled in with race dates at home and abroad, from Ipoh to Melbourne.
She said, “For us, racing is the social event.”
Her vocabulary can be “horsey”, not in the Eliza Doolittle vein, but more the Princess Royal (Princess Anne the equestrian).
How did she get so “into the sport?” She picked up on everything-you-want-to-know-about-racehorses-I-can-tell-you simply from accompanying the doctor – to the races, to the auctions (racehorses), being in the Singapore Turf Club circle.
And from a real passion for the sport. Kranji is practically a second home.
A word to the wise, “It is a very expensive hobby, so you’ve got to be careful, and very hands-on, so you don’t lose a lot of money.”
The couple’s Jolie’s Shinju has been their best buy.
“She cost $30,000 and has so far won $1.5 million.”
A racehorse can cost anything from $10,000 to the millions.
“First you do your research, you also go with your trainer to the auction, he will help you decide. Even with a pedigree, things can happen.” (Example, Princess Jay.)
Jaylian and her doc are frequent flyers, up-and-pack for horse sales and race meetings.
“Of course I do get disappointed when our horses don’t win, we have made a lot from Jolie’s Shinju, and have lost some too, but overall we have evened out.”
A good class horse like Jolie’s Shinju can race up to seven years and then retire to be a good brood mare.
At the stud farms (Australia, Japan, New Zealand) where they shop, “You can look at 100 and not buy one, or find one after a couple of days’ viewing.
“We prefer the two-year-olds. You race them one week, then let them rest two weeks. They do get ‘chuan’ (tired), you know.”
It costs about $2,400 a month to keep a horse in training. Once a week at the minimum, the couple’s at the stables at six in the morning to watch the handsome animals put through their trials. The canter and trot, the rub-down and feed, the roll-over and play.
“The fitter the horse, the better chance to win, a good one pays for itself.”
The prize money is divvied into percentages for jockey, owner, trainer, but the real pleasure is when your number and colour (purple & gold) pips the others at the winning post.
Jaylian and her doctor are very involved in the sport. “He teaches me, explains, look at leg, where, how, why we buy this one, it’s an everyday thing for us.”
The filly before the colt. “The gelded (colt) cannot be a stallion, he cannot sire champions.”
The knack for picking fillies notwithstanding, “This man even chooses my clothes. He’s better (at it) because he has a fantastic eye, good taste, is never wrong.
“It’s a big headache for me to buy him a gift, I have to insist.” Like a mother-of-pearl cufflinks. He already owns 1,000 ties. She owns nine hats.
Three auctions a year, derby dates as far as Dubai, and time left over is “pretty low-key”, barbeques at home for friends.
Jaylian can give you tips. Not betting ones, but marketing ones. “I can tell you the best stalls in Tiong Bahru market for the freshest foods. (She cooks for her boyfriend’s 81-year-old father every day.)
“Punters’ Way has all the info, but over the years I learn betting has to do with luck.
“We never give tips, it’s four-legged, anything can happen. I bet on my own, a very fit horse can win. I give it a stroke before the race, and then have palpitations when I watch it near the finish.”
This article was first published in The New Paper.
