Champion jockey leaves early / Ikuyasu to go to Busan
Busan Race Park’s first cards of 2009 have been published and one notable absentee is 2008 Champion Jockey Toshio Uchida. The Japanese star has returned to his homeland a week before his contract at Busan officially expires. Uchida has indicated that he wishes to return to Korea in May and that he needs to spend time in Japan to ensure his riding license there can be renewed.

The news comes as a disappointment to punters throughout the peninsula. In his short time at Busan, Uchida has demonstrated the impact a truly top class jockey can have on a horse and has set a standard that local jockeys can aspire to. Having said that, it is unlikely that any of them will miss his presence in the winner’s circle. Whether he will actually return after such a long break though, be it to Busan or even to Seoul, is anyone’s guess.

Ikuyasu Kurakane will relocate from Seoul to Busan with immediate effect, making his debut on Friday partnering Beongae Boy in the feature handicap. Another Japanese rider, Eiki Nishimura has had his contract renewed, despite his current ban for failing a breath test but he, like both Uchida and Kurakane, will need to return to Japan at some point in the near future to renew his license.

Deryl Daniels is not expected back at Busan. Another South African, Petrus Botha, has a license but is yet to arrive in Korea, the jockey seemingly having second thoughts. A third South African also looks to be on the cards over the next month or so. Uchida leaves a hard act to follow, however, and punters will be missing “Mr Pink” when the first race of 2009 comes under orders at one ‘o clock on Friday afternoon.

The KRA has announced that 2009 will see a slight reduction in Pari-Mutuel takeout for Quinella bets. The dividend for Quinella, Exacta and Quinella Place will rise 1% from 72% to 73%. Dividends in the win and place pools will remain unchanged at 80%. Although tax is the same at 18% in all the pools, the KRA takes much more commission from the quinella pools.

As an illustration of the kind of money involved, on the last day of racing in 2008 last Sunday, a total of KRW 59,726,125,000 (US$45,185,054.53 at current exchange rates) was gambled on the twelve races at Seoul Race Park alone. The vast majority of this – 90% or more in most races – was on one of the three quinella bets.

The 2009 Korean Racing season will get underway at Busan Race Park next Friday, January 9. As in 2008, Busan will have things to itself each Friday before the action moves to Seoul and Jeju on Saturdays. On Sundays, all three tracks will run cards. There will be racing every week except on the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January and Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) in the first week of October. There will also be a one week Mid-Summer break at the end of July. The season finishes on Sunday December 20.

A return to night racing is scheduled from mid-July to mid-August. On these days, cards usually start in mid afternoon and run until 9pm. In 2008, the entire night racing program was cancelled and the races run during the day instead due to record high fuel prices. It was the first time in twenty years that night racing didn’t take place.

FULL 2009 RACING SCHEDULE