45-year-old Singaporean trainer K Y Young has relinquished his licence, with his final runner last Sunday when My Boss contested race 4 of the card.
After a challenging rookie year in 2017, where he had no wins in 50 starts, he experienced a remarkable turnaround in 2018. Young’s second season became the pinnacle of his seven-year career, with an impressive 35 wins and a commendable 12th position on the premiership table.
Young attributed his decision to quit to the unstable financial state his training business has experienced over the past two years, with his stable numbers dwindling during that time.
Young concludes his training career as a winner of 98 races out of 1489 runners. However, Young is still hopeful of remaining in the industry and plans to apply for a B-trainer’s license and join Jerome Tan.
Meanwhile, Brazilian jockey Ruan Maia rode his last race of his Hong Kong stint at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, and has plans to return to Kranji in the near future.
Maia was quoted in the SCMP:
“I haven’t had a lot of support this season, and I wasn’t happy here any more. I couldn’t get work in the mornings – just a few horses – so there was no point in me staying here until the end of the season.
“Before, I was planning to finish the season, but after three months without a winner and with no opportunity, there’s no point in me being here any more.”
Maia departed Singapore for Hong Kong in 2021 after a successful stint in the Lion City. In 2020, Maia dominated the Kranji winner’s enclosure with 62 wins from 350 rides, striking at 17.7%.
The Brazilian Ace fell short by four wins in a bid to claims the premiership, with Australian Vlad Duric going on to claim the title with 65 wins.
Maia will return to Brazil for a holiday first and then make his way to Singapore when the time is right.
