'KING OF THE KIDS' KIESER DIES

S. African ex-trainer succumbs to abdominal aneurysm in Thailand

- Michael Lee

Former Kranji trainer Theo Kieser suddenly died in Thailand at the age of 61 on Jan 11.

The cause of death of the South African horseman was an abdominal aortic aneurysm – a swelling of the artery from the heart to the abdomen.

His daughter Molly said it was too late when she found her father dead at their Khon Kaen home in the morning.

“Dad had already passed when I woke up. The hospital said he died at around 5am,” said the 14-year-old secondary school student.

“He’s had some stomach problems which he might have neglected. He did go to the hospital to get it checked up.

“Otherwise he was okay, but he recently had some food poisoning. It may have complicated things.

“Yesterday, he was still fine, and was okay to walk, but that was to be the last time I saw him alive.”

Kieser moved to the northeastern city of Khon Kaen in 2019, one year after he retired from training at Kranji.

He dabbled in food business, but devoted most of his time to caring for Molly, especially after his divorce from his Thai wife Saifon.