53/1 shot Euro Fighter was the surprise winner of the 2010 Korean Oaks at Busan Race Park this afternoon. The Seoul-trained filly got off to a flying start and led the field into the first corner.

As the better-known names, headed by odds-on favourite Cheonun, massed behind her, it looked just a matter of time before she faded. Instead she did the opposite and, staying firmly on the rail, Euro Fighter found another gear in the home straight and pulled further away from the field. In the middle of the track, Cheonun laboured into stride but by then it was far too late. Euro Fighter, daughter of Archer City Slew, had won the fillies’ Classic.

Was it such a surprise though? Not if form rather than potential was anything to go by. Punters simply chose to disregard the fact that she was one of only two fillies in the race to have won a two-turn race before instead taking a chance on the unknown with fillies who had never gone further than seven furlongs. The exception to this was Cheonun, who had won twice at two turns. She looked set to pounce as they rounded the home turn but by the time Choi Bum Hyun had her pointing in the right direction in the straight, Euro Fighter was out of reach.

Seoul horses filled all the first four places – a welcome result for the capital after Busan’s recent domination of the Classics. Indeed, the calibre of the southern track’s fillies this year would appear to leave a lot to be desired. Crown Flag, the second longest shot on the board, was the host track’s best finisher, managing fifth. Busan does of course still boast the Derby winner, Cheonnyeon Daero, and if all goes to plan, Euro Fighter will have the opportunity to prove that today wasn’t a one off, when the pair meet in the Minister’s Cup at Seoul in October.

For jockey Moon Jung Kyun, it was a first Classic win since his swept all three legs of the Triple Crown on the great J.S. Hold in 2007.

While down at Busan, temperatures were in the low thirties, it was ten degrees cooler and a whole lot wetter back in the capital. Not that jockey Jang Chu Yeol will care tonight. The apprentice won a race for the very first time when he guided Gwanakteukgeup to victory in race 4. Jang is the first of this year’s new jockeys to score a win. It was his thirteenth start.

Meanwhile, she may be the first Korean woman to earn a trainer’s license but Lee Shin Young is very much in form on the track at the moment. Thirty-year old Lee scored a typically agressive win on Nike Seven in race 7. As soon as a training vacancy opens up, she’ll be moving into the barn, however, punters will be quite happy if that doesn’t happen for a good while longer yet.

Seoul’s feature race was won by another 53-1 shot. Mr Loving Life (Full Mandate) scored a win over Owner’s Cup winner Serendipper in the ten furlong handicap.

Korean Oaks (KOR.GII) – Busan Race Park – 1800M – Aug 29, 2010

1. Euro Fighter (KOR) [Archer City Slew – Ilso Cheongun (High Yield)] – Moon Jung Kyun – 53.7, 7.8
2. Cheonun (KOR) [Ft. Stockon – Restless Patricia (Born Restless)] – Choi Bum Hyun – 1.1
3. Dongbang Rose (KOR) [Volponi – Night Mary (Strike Gold)] – Shin Hyoung Chul – 2.6

Distances: 5 lengths/1.25 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Kanui Byeol 5. Crown Flag 6. Heukgun Jilju 7. Saeroun Gongju 8. Harue 9. Selah 10. Sanbang Plus 11. Hushtilled 12. Namgang 13. Shining Champion 14. Saroungangja

Korea Lead International Jockey Challenge While Tote Farce Causes Lost Race

It can happen to anyone. You run one of the slickest shows around. You have the best facilities and most advanced technology anywhere. So naturally, you invite a few people round to show it off. And when you do, it all goes wrong. The KRA must have been feeling like that halfway through this afternoon’s card; the first day of the International Jockey Challenge at Seoul Race Park.

It had started off badly with chaos at the starting gate delaying races 1 & 2. Then in race 3, one jockey got thrown off and another horse opted to remain in the stalls until his compatriots had completed half the race.

However, that was just a build up to race 4, the pièce de résistance, when with the horses at the start and around $10 Million in the various pools, the tote board failed. Completely. Race 4 was abandoned and and all money returned. If it could fail once, it could fail again – and it did, just prior to race 5.Somehow, though they managed to get it working again and whatever sticking plaster they applied (or they switched it off and switched it back on again), saw us through to the end of the evening.

However, it may have been better for the International team comtesting the “Korea vs The World” event, if they hadn’t. In the two Saturday races that brought us to the half-way point in the challenge, both were won by the home team, with the visitors managing just two placings.

In a race that was delayed by 10 minutes due to the tote problems, Ganghotansaeng was an impressive winner for Korean jockey Yoo Sang Wan . The gelding had the seven furlong race won some distance from the line and finished two lengths clear of Choi Bum Hyun on Olle Dreamer. Turkish rider Akin Sozen pipped Moon Se Young to third to score some points for the visitors:

Race 6 (Domestic 4 Allowance III-B) – Seoul Race Park – 1400M – Aug 21, 2010

1. Ganghotansaeng – Yoo Sang Wan (KOR) 5.6, 2.2
2. Olle Dreamer – Choi Bum Hyun (KOR) 2.2
3. Chowonui Hyanggi – Akin Sozen (TUR) 3.3
Distances: 2 lengths/4 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Wonder Heart (Moon Se Young – KOR), 5. Golden Cat (Muzi Yeni – SA), 6. Tachys (Oliver Castillo – USA) 7. Super Taepung (Niall McCullagh – IRE), 8. Happy Choice (Oh Kyoung Hoan), 9. Golden Wing (Park Tae Jong – KOR), 10. Yongho Yakjin (Scott Seamer – AUS), 11. Sugar Land (Jung Ki Yong – KOR), 12. Perfect Line (Syu Ishibashi – JPN), 13. Holiday King (Cho Kyoung Ho – KOR)

It didn’t get much better under the floodlights three hours later. There were no surprises as Big Easy scored his sixth win from seven starts, Jung Ki Yong having been the lucky jockey to pick his number out of the hat. Scott Seamer got the closest, guiding Gangcheorwang to a creditable second place. However, the rest of the visitors filled out five of the last six finshers.

Race 10 (Domestic 2 Handicap) – Seoul Race Park – 1400M – Aug 21, 2010

1. Big Easy – Jung Ki Yong (KOR) – 2.5, 1.4
2. Gangcheorwang – Scott Seamer (AUS) – 3.2
3. Oregon – Cho Kyoung Ho (KOR) – 2.6
Distances: 1.25 lengths/4 lengths

Also Ran: 4. Chowonui Chueok (Yoo Sang Wan – KOR), 5. Kkum Guerin (Park Tae Jong – KOR), 6. Mannamui Chubok (Park Tae Jong – KOR), 7. Jaemi Best (Choi Bum Hyun – KOR), 8. Wangsan (Lee Sang Hyeok) 9. Battle Commander (Muzi Yeni – SA) 10. Yeonggeol (Moon Se Young – KOR) 11. Smart Galloper (Syu Ishibashi – JPN) 12. Happy Hero (Akin Sozen – TUR) 13. Jayeongwang (Niall McCullogh – IRE) DQ Red Sky (Oliver Castillo – USA)

* It got even worse after the line for Muzi Yeni as Battle Commander decided he’d prefer to be alone for a while and dumped him on the track. Happily, Yeni is fine and will be riding tomorrow.

*The English language Stewards’ Report from today’s meeting at Seoul is now ready for download. It is, of course, free.

After difficult spells for both of them, two of Seoul’s most recognisable names found themselves back together in the Winner’s circle on Independence Day at Seoul Race Park this evening.

Bulpae Gisang and Choi Bum Hyun had won together eight times but with the jockey only returning this weekend after three months on the injured list and the horse – once considered one of the two best in Korea – without a win this year, the omens weren’t good.

Yet under the lights in front of a bumper Sunday crowd, the pair combined to see off a big name field that included the likes of Vicar Love, so impressive in the Busan Metropolitan last month, and the returning former champion filly & mare, Top Point. It was Top Point who set the early pace in the ten furlong feature event – oh how we’ve missed her the past nine months – but Choi and Bulpae Gisang were always looking dangerous and took things up with a furlong to go. Vicar Love faded from proceedings and it was Free Hugs who was the biggest danger but, going down the rail under Cho Kyoung Ho, the Aussie-bred six year old could only get to within a length and a half on the line.

It was a great hour for the returning Choi. In race 9, he guided the very impressive Jilpunggangho to his sixth win from ten starts and in the last scored a surprise victory on outsider Daejauichukje.

Jilpunggangho [Max’s Pal – Spicy Soup (Alphabet Soup)] looks quite a horse. One of those who whose dam was imported while in foal, he wasn’t eligible for the three-year olf Classics but should be a force to be reckoned with in the elite level, for which with today’s win, he has now qualified.

There he might encounter Bulpae Gisang. The stablemate of Dongbanui Gangja for once did not play second fiddle.

Class 1 (Foreign) – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – August 15, 2010

1. Bulpae Gisang (USA) [Lightnin N Thunder – Neat Trick (Clever Trick)] – Choi Bum Hyun – 3.7, 1.6
2. Free Hugs (AUS) [Fantastic Light – Woodie (Woodman)] – Cho Kyoung Ho – 1.2
3. Top Point (KOR) [Tom Cruiser – Mooncello (Northen Baby)] – Shin Hyoung Chul – 2.6
Distances: 1.5 lengths/4 lengths – 13 ran

* Down at Busan, the feature race was won by Golden Appeal [Sharp Appeal – Golden Image (Dancer’s Image)]. The four-year old got the better of Gimakhin Seungbu after Namdo Jeap had gone walkabout in the home straight. Golden Appeal now has an impressive record of eight wins from twelve starts.

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL

FULL RESULTS FROM BUSAN

Racing returned to Seoul after two blank weekends and on a day where the weather was as predictable as a maiden pony race on Jeju Island, Holy Dreamer finally showed he’s no flat-track bully and can mix it with the big boys as he defeated a host of established names in the feature race.

He’d won his first five races but came unstuck when he faced his first really strong test in last year’s Ilgan Sports where he struggled home in seventh place. He recovered to win twice more in succession to gain entry to Korean racing’s elite for 2010. It seemed he’d met his match, a third place the best to show from four outings this year that included coming a dismal eleventh in the Ttukseom Cup.

Punters still considered him dangerous enough to warrant sending him off at slightly under 10/1 behind such names as Machine Gun, Gi Ra Seong, Nice Choice, Hwangnyongsaji and Taepungchukje. It was Gi Ra Seong who set the early pace but the six-year-old couldn’t hold off the challenge of Holy Dreamer who, under rising star of the weighing room Jo In Kwen took control in the final furlong and won by a length. Taepung Chukje got up for third.

Holy Dreamer now has the impressive record of eight wins from fourteen starts. Whether he can repeat the feat when he carries more weight next time, will be something to watch very carefully. Holy Dreamer’s mother goes by the name of Nice Weather. On that subject…

…If winners were hard to predict, the weather was even harder. Seoul awoke to a crashing thunderstorm but by first post time there was burning sunshine and those in rain coats looked very silly (and very sweaty). All that changed in a few dramatic minutes before the fifth when the skies darkened and the heavens opened unleashing a furious downpour.

This would be repeated between races right up until race 9. Remarkably while parading for all those races was done in torrential unpleasantness, the rain stopped each time the horses entered the starting gate.

In such conditions, surprises were always going to happen. Three odds-on favourites went down: Tracker, Namchonuichukje and Brown Girl were respectively beaten by Seongjang Engine, Battle Bingo and Gounjit.

Some favourites did do the business, however. Best Holls, the only Korean bred entrant in a Foreign-bred race claimed the spoils in race 7 while Cheonji Jangsu cruised past the field to claim victory in race 10. The US bred five-year old is very much a late-bloomer but now looks likely to join the elite on his next outing.

Racing returns to Seoul on Sunday with 11 races from 14:30 to 21:00. Busan also runs a 6 race card from 16:20 to 21:00. The weather forecast is something like hot and sunny with cloudy periods and regular thunderstorms. Oh, and the odd gale-force gust of wind. It’s going to be fun dressing for that.

Class 1 Handicap – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – August 14, 2010

1. Holy Dreamer (KOR) [Duality – Nice Weather (Future Storm)] – Jo In Kwen – 9.3, 2.8
2. Gi Ra Seong (KOR) [Precise End – Dauntless Cat (Mountain Cat)] – Choi Bum Hyun – 1.9
3. Taepungchukje (KOR) [Future Quest – Change In Time (Time For A Change)] – Boo Min Ho – 2.4
Distances: 1 length/0.75 lengths – 13 ran

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL