Tennet Tentennet all tuned up

In his heyday, Leslie Khoo was remembered by Bukit Timah racegoers as a record-breaking jockey.

The Singaporean switched to training in 2001, but going by the recent names he gave some of his Kranji horses, you would be forgiven to think he had become a record-spinning disc-jockey instead.

But the former table-topper knows precious little about turntables. He is just a music lover.

Delilah and Melody Fair were by no means world-beaters, but their names were known globally as hit songs of the swinging 60s-70s.

They were the soundtracks to the life of the young Katong man, busy jockey on track and Bee Gees or Tom Jones wannabe belting out golden oldies in the jockeys’ room showers after the races.

Then came Tennet Tentennet – a tongue-twister of a name, both confusing in its meaning and orthography.

A nod to Christopher Nolan’s 2020 sci-fi thriller maybe, but misspelled “Tennet”?

As for the second half, either Khoo was playing a cheeky trick to race-callers or he stuttered a few times at the Malayan Racing Association (MRA) registration desk.

Khoo may already be 70, but it turns out he has a rather timeless and eclectic taste in music.

He does not croon and swoon to his era only, but more contemporary songs as well, as long as it is a catchy tune he can hum along to.

Tennet Tentennet is not even a title or lyric to a song. It was Khoo’s onomatopoeic or phonetic interpretation of the infectious saxophone intro to 90s electronic anthem How Gee by Black Machine.

“Raymond Yong, the Chinese race-caller stumbles on it,” he chuckled.

“It’s all in good fun. It was a jingle app I received on my phone one day, I liked it so much I named a horse after the intro.”

The recipient of the unusual moniker was a Telperion chestnut his New Zealand scout Clint Isdale picked as a two-year-old for NZ$15,000 (S$12,400) at the Karaka Ready-To-Run Sale in 2022.

To say that Tennet Tentennet – who just like Delilah and Melody Fair, races in Khoo’s distinctive red and yellow V colours – has been a hit on the Kranji charts would be an oversell.

Three wins, all on Polytrack, and two placings from 14 starts would not make a record go platinum, although Khoo has not given up on gold as yet.

“He can stay. I thought he could be my last Gold Cup chance,” said Khoo, who despite his glittering CV as a jockey, has yet to win a feature race as a trainer on home soil.

“But I’m not so sure now. He had a tendon injury after his last race (March 30) and we had to rest him.

“He’s only coming back this Sunday. I don’t think there’s enough time to get to the Gold Cup.”

The $1.38 million Group 1 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) will mark the final chapter of Singapore racing’s rich 182-year-old history at its last day on Oct 5.

“It’d be great if I finally win a Group race, but I’m still happy with what I’ve achieved as a trainer,” said Khoo, who came the closest to breaking the duck with Fastnet Dragon’s head-second to Cooptado in the 2015 Singapore Gold Cup.

“I did win a few cup races when I started out in Ipoh. At Kranji, I also won a few of the two-year-old legs when they were part of the Singapore Golden Horseshoe series.

“I remember Kubera Warrior won once (2015 Inglis Sydney Juvenile Stakes over 1,000m), and also Yaya Papaya (2017 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale Stakes over 1,100m).”

Khoo, who is left with only nine horses, has had plenty of time for Tennet Tentennet, but has not rushed him either – even if the $50,000 Class 4 (1,600m, Polytrack) first-up might suggest otherwise.

“He’s okay, he’s eating well. Everything’s gone all right so far,” he said. “But he’s back after three months, maybe he’ll need the run.

“Normally, I would look for a 1,200m comeback race, but I picked a mile race because we’re running out of time with only three months to the Gold Cup. No choice.”

Tennet Tentennet has drawn barrier No. 10 and will be ridden by jockey Bruno Queiroz.

manyan@sph.com.sg