Triple Seven’s victory in the Ttukseom Cup earlier this month has taken the five-year old to the top of the Seoul Standings. He leads Baekgwang, whose comeback from seemingly career-ending injury has been the feel-good story of the past year.

In overall terms, Dongbanui Gangja remains the horse to beat heading as he does the overseas-bred list. Despite a dreadful performance earlier this month when jockey Choi Bum Hyun allowed him to drift across the entire width of the track in the home straight, he managed to win and took his unbeaten streak to twelve.

The resurgent Bally Brae is up to third while the three-year old Tough Win enters the top five for the first time. He beat the horse in third place, Bulpae Gisang this month and the inevitable showdown with Dongbanui Gangja is set to be one of the highlights of the year.

Overseas-bred horses are not allowed to run in the three-year old Classics and it is of course, Money Car, the emphatic winner of the KRA Cup Mile and favourite for the Derby who heads up the Domestic-bred three-year old category. Seonbongbulpae and Northern Ace, neither of whom went to Cup Mile but will be running in the Derby complete the top three.

Just behind those is Ace Galloper, a horse who belongs to the third category of thoroughbreds in Korea. He was foaled in Korea but his mare was imported to the country whilst pregnant – two of the top five overall Korean bred horses – Taesanbukdu and Gi Ra Seong – also fall into this category. They are eligible for all races open to Korean-breds except for the Classics.

Domestic-bred Class 1

1. Triple Seven [The Groom Is Red – Impudence (Grand Lodge)]
2. Baekgwang [The Groom Is Red – Grey Crest (Gold Crest)]
3. Gi Ra Seong [Precise Cat – Dauntless Cat (Mountain Cat)]
4. Taesanbukdu [Millennium Wind – Regal Meg (Regal Classic)]
5. Nice Choice [Lost Mountain – Betty’s Rhapsody (Don’t Hesitate)]

Domestic-bred 3-year olds

1. Money Car [Newsprint – Pinocchio (Big Sur)]
2. Seonbongbulpae [Newsprint – Jeseok (Lost Mountain)]
3. Northern Ace [Didyme – Telegraph Road (Royal Academy)]
4= Ace Galloper [Chapel Royal – Explicitly (Exploit)]
4= Forest Wind [Capital Spending – Coffee Royale (Sword Dance)]

Overseas-bred Class 1

1. Dongbanui Gangja (USA) [Broken Vow – Maremaid (Storm Bird)]
2. Bally Brae (USA) [Yarrow Brae – Political Bluff (Unaccounted For)]
3. Bulpae Gisang (USA) [Lightnin N Thunder – Neat Trick (Clever Trick)]
4. Baekjeonmupae (NZ) [Traditionally – Star Sixty Seven (Phone Trick)]
5. Tough Win (USA) [Yonaguska – Maggie May’s Sword (Sword Dance)]

Dongnabui Gangja is still number one in Korea – this was a better effort than his last one, winning the Grand Prix last December:

* Standings compiled by the Korean Racing Journal