Posting has been light recently but Gyongmaman is back in the saddle after a scarcely earned break over the Thanksgiving weekend. And it’s almost time for the Minister’s Cup.

Four of the eight Busan contenders, including Oaks Winner Pangpang have already arrived in the capital with the rest, including KRA Cup Mile and Derby winner – and therefore Triple Crown hopeful – Sangseung Ilro will be up shortly.

The big race is off at 5pm on Sunday afternoon and it will crown a big weekend of racing on the peninsula which includes the Gyeongnam Shinmum Cup at Busan as well as a likely appearance at Seoul on Saturday by the track’s number one horse, Dongbanui Gangja. Final declarations will be made on Thursday and we’ll be back with a full preview of all the action.

In the meantime, here’s the great J.S. Hold taking the inaugural Triple Crown by winning the Minister’s Cup in 2007:

In the race, he just got up to beat Ganghomyeongjang in the final few strides with the luckless Namchonuijijon in third. Namchonuijijon would go on to finally have his day in the Ttukseom Cup the following year but for J.S. Hold, there would be no more races. After the race he was discovered to have re-aggravated a previous injury and ultimately was retired.