Thwaites dies at 80 in Kuala Lumpur

Singapore horse racing has lost one of its last giants in the training ranks – Malcolm Thwaites.

The Singaporean trainer, who turned 80 on Jan 11, died in Kuala Lumpur on the morning of Jan 26 from complications due to a long illness.

Thwaites was first diagnosed with prostate cancer around seven to eight years ago, but except for one session of chemotherapy, opted out of any treatment.

“Butch”, as he was known, fought his illness head-on, soldiering on at his Selangor yard until he called it quits in August 2023.

However, his condition took a turn for the worse at his Sri Kembangan home last week. On Jan 22, he was warded in Putrajaya Hospital where he died four days later.

His son Ian, who worked as his assistant trainer for many years, was by his bedside then, but had returned to Singapore by the time his father passed.

“I was actually planning to bring him back to a Singapore hospital,” said Thwaites, who now runs a wakeboarding school in Singapore. “But, yesterday the doctors called and said he was not in a good way.

“So I decided to wait until he’s stable enough, but this morning, I got the news. It was too late.

“I’m glad I was able to see him before he died. Even if he couldn’t speak any more, he seemed to recognise me.

“It was his wish not to get any aggressive treatment, just minimal. Old age also came along.

“To me, dad was the best trainer in Singapore. He was a good mentor, but above all, a good father. He had many friends and family members around the world.

“I’ll be driving up to KL to bring his ashes back.”

The cremation preceded by a church service will be held at MBPJ Crematorium in Petaling Jaya on Jan 28 at 11am.

One person who also visited him was his former apprentice, Malaysian jockey Benny Woodworth.

“I saw him on Friday. It was sad to see him suffer,” he said.

“He’s in a better place now. He was a good master and gave me plenty of opportunities.”

After first working as a handicapper with the Malayan Racing Association (MRA), Thwaites switched to training in 1980 and has not looked back since.

He first trained in America before moving to Canada. In 1986, he returned to Malaysia where he won his first Malaysian Group 1 race with a horse called Nostradamus.

All up, he trained with success across eight countries over 30 years, but probably made the biggest impact on the Malayan racing circuit where he won six champion titles.

Since moving to Singapore in 1988, he was the leading trainer at both Bukit Timah and Kranji, bagging six Singapore Gold Cup wins.

But, his highest acclaim came in 2000 when he saddled the great Ouzo to a historic win in the inaugural Singapore Airlines International Cup. The New Zealand-bred is the only locally trained horse to have captured the $3 million Group 1 race over 2,000m.

Thwaites also sent Peak Of Perfection XI and Three Crowns to the 1998 Melbourne Cup, and Aristotle to the 2001 Dubai World Cup, albeit without success.

Former eight-time Singapore champion jockey Saimee Jumaat was part of those overseas raids, but more pointedly, a prolific team.

“It’s sad to hear he’s gone. He was the best trainer I’ve been involved with and he was my biggest supporter for around five years since 1998,” said Saimee.

“If I made a mistake, he wouldn’t scold but talk about it and move on. He was a real gentleman.

“He never gave instructions, but I remember for Ouzo’s SIA Cup, we had a pre-race talk at the Shangri-La Hotel two days before the race.”

One of his fiercest rivals on the track, Charles Leck, remembered their friendship over meals and drinks off the track.

“We got along pretty well. We caught up for dinner at Ivan Allan’s house once every month when we were in Singapore,” said the three-time Singapore champion trainer, who is now also based in Kuala Lumpur.

“We had a good time fighting for the title in 1998, 1999 and 2003 when I beat him. I’m very sad a legend is gone.”

Thwaites leaves behind two sons, Stefan and Ian; two daughters, Natasha and Jade; two sisters, Antonia and Julia; one brother, Damien and seven grandchildren.

manyan@sph.com.sg