South African trainer Basil Marcus took a step closer to opening his Singapore stables with the arrival of 32 horses from South Africa on Sunday.

It was the largest single shipment of horses and signals the start of Marcus Racing as a player in Singapore racing.

With Basil not due in Singapore until the end of the month, son Glenn, who is in charge of public relations for Marcus Racing, said the trip went extremely well.

Transporting the horses on the ten-and-a-half hour journey was a Singapore Airlines 747 Cargo plane and Marcus said the trip went off without a hitch.

“My brother Adam travelled with the horses along with a horse behaviorist and two veterinary surgeons – Manfred Hanni and Koos Neuland,” said Marcus.

“The horses travelled just so-so well. They are currently all here in quarantine and have settled in really well.

“It was a dream trip.”

Marcus said the day the horses left South Africa – Saturday - his father trained a treble at Kenilworth.

“It was a great day for Marcus Racing,” he said. “We won a Listed race with a horse called Tassie Belle and then had this large shipment leave which was the largest transportation of horses to leave South Africa.

“We are all really looking forward to getting up and going here in Singapore. It is an exciting time for us to be here and we are looking forward to some great racing.”

Adam, who is hands-on and travelled to Singapore with the horses, said he could not have wished for a better trip.

“The pilots knew they had a lot of horses on board and made sure there was a smooth take-off and landing,” said Adam.

“The horses behaved really well on the flight and have settled in here at the quarantine station and look in excellent order.”

Besides the South African horses coming in for the upcoming season, Marcus also has horses joining his stables from Australia while Desert Links will return to his care after finishing third in the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup in November when prepared by David Hill.

Marcus was granted his licence by the Singapore Turf Club back in June and has 50 boxes allocated to him in the new stable complex at the back of the course which opened last November.