Work has begun on remodelling the interior of the “Happyville” grandstand of Seoul Race Park. Over the next 16 months, the entire grandstand will be extensively redeveloped to bring its facilities in-line with the neighbouring “Luckyville” grandstand. The work affected race-goers for the first time over the past weekend with the southern half of the stand being closed. Work on this section will continue until the end of December, when the Northern half will be closed with completion of the whole project scheduled for August 2009. The closure means fewer betting windows open although the KRA will open windows in Luckyville that are not currently in use on major race-days such as next week’s Korean Derby. The outdoor seats remain open along the whole length of the stand.

The start of the work coincided with the KRA opening an exhibition on the 1st floor of Luckyville celebrating “100 years of Korean Horse Racing” (which will come as a surprise to visitors to the history section of the KRA’s website).