The Singapore Sporting Club was founded on 4 October 1842 by Scottish merchant William Henry Macleod Read to operate the Serangoon Road Race Course at Farrer Park Field.
[3] To expand the racecourse and racing activities, the club sold Serangoon Road Racecourse to the Singapore Improvement Trust for $1.5 million and bought 98 ha (980,000 square metres) of the Bukit Timah Rubber Estate at a cost of $850,000 to build the Bukit Timah Race Course.
[6] In 1987, the Ministry of Finance announced the formation of the Tote Board to control the income earned from the Club via horse racing betting and 4D draws.
[4][7] In response, the Tote Board formed the Bukit Turf Club (BTC) as an agent to operate both activities.
Contested on turf, the domestic Group 1 handicap race is now run over a distance of 2,000m and is open to horses aged three and older.
The Lion City Cup was launched in 1974 and is widely considered as Singapore's premier domestic sprint race.