Month: January 2011

Weekend Preview

Temperatures remain low and the early forecast for Saturday in Seoul is for a “high” of -11C. It’s not going to be very pleasant. Nevertheless, a full program of racing is scheduled to take place.

It was cold and melancholy last week. After events far away, it is set to be the same this.

Cheonnyeon Daero, 2010 Korean Derby winner is perhaps the biggest name on show. He will carry top weight in Friday’s feature handicap at Busan.

That race is one of only two class 1 races on the peninsula this weekend. The other is at Seoul on Saturday as last year’s Champion filly Dongbang Rose takes on a former holder of that title Top Point in a tough to call handicap. Here’s what’s happening when and where:

Friday January 14

Busan Race Park: 10 races from 12:00 to 18:00
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 13:30 to 17:30

Saturday January 15

Seoul Race Park: 12 races from 11:20 to 17:40
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 12:10 to 17:10

Sunday January 16

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:20 to 18:00
Busan Race Park: 6 races from 12:40 to 16:30

* James Perry remains missing in Queensland. Many people will be thinking of him in Korea this weekend.

Former Seoul Steward James Perry Among Missing in Queensland

The Australian Herald Sun newspaper is reporting that James Perry, former Steward at Seoul Racecourse, is among those missing in floods in Queensland.

The newspaper reports that Mr Perry’s wife and young son were winched to safety from the roof of the car they were travelling in when the flash-flood hit. Mr Perry, however, remains missing.

James Perry was on the stewards’ panel at Seoul for two and a half years before movng back to Australia with his family in Autumn 2010 to take up a Chief Steward position with Racing Queensland.

Why Didn’t I Pick That?!

Hunch Bet Could Have Landed Massive Pay-Out / Quinella One Of Biggest Ever In Korea

It all sounds so obvious now: A filly and a mare taking on mostly males, they both had the word “Sky” in their names on a day when the sky was blue and beautiful and a young lady jockey coming in to replace the injured former Champion jockey on one of them. Surely a hunch bettor’s dream. Forget wondering why I didn’t even consider a few hundred Won, in the cold light of day, I have no idea why I didn’t put the mortgage on Burning Sky and Sky Center in Race 9 at Seoul Race Park on Sunday!

Let's Have A Look At What You Could Have Won...

130/1 shot Burning Sky and Hwang Soon Do led 50/1 Sky Center and Kim Hae Sun across the line to land one of the most unlikely results Seoul Race Park has seen in recent times. The quinella paid 1587.7 while the exacta yielded returns of 5409.0. With 943,233,500 Won (about $850,000) in the exacta pool, someone evidently had a good Sunday evening.

The exacta is generally the second most popular bet after the quinella. The Quinella pool had approximately $3 Million in it while there was $750,000 in the Trio (first three in any order), the returns of which were “only” 786.4 after hot favourite Super Yonggwang finished third. $45,000 was put in the win pool and $70,000 in the place for a total handle for the race of around $5 Million. With the KRA handing over 27% of that to the government for them to distribute as they see fit, one wonders just how seriously politicians want to clamp down on racing).

Sky's the limit: Burning Sky and Sky Center complete a 5409/1 exacta

* Those pay-outs were by no means the biggest in Korean history. Here is a full list of longest odds for all six bet types. With the exception of Dream Team, who made up the second part of the exacta, all involved were fillies:

Win: 382.0 – Seoul, 24 November 2001, Race 1: Three-year old filly Swing recorded her first and only victory.

Place: 59.9 – Seoul, 20 November 2004, Race 2: Filly Big Crown finished second. Her win odds were 571.3

Quinella: 7328.8 – Seoul, 5 December 1998, Race 4: Heukkwang (169.5) and Keumbae (198.4) were first and second but not until the horse over the line first Mubidongja, was disqualified. Some punters would have been left feeling sick as Mubidongja himself was a 90/1 chance.

Exacta: 15954.3 – Seoul, 26 October 2003, Race 5: Storm (77.9) beat Dream Team (193.5. Not many saw it coming.

Quinella Place: 1859.8 – Busan, 12 May, 2006, Race 5. An odds-on shot won but nine lengths behind the winner were Nammyeong and Jisang Choego – both sent off well over 100/1.

Trio: 25661.9 – Busan, 7 February 2010, Race 4 – This bet has only been available for a couple of years but it has already produced by far and away the biggest winning odds. Angel Collar, Dapyeon and Grace Thunder combining for the 1,2,3. However, there were no life-changing sums won that day. The pool contained a comfortable – if probably disappointing to the winner – 30 Million Won in it.

(Figures are from the KRA)

Ton-Up For International Uchida

After victory in race 1 at Busan on Sunday, Toshio “Mr Pink” Uchida let it be known that the win was his 100th success outside his native Japan.

It was a typical coaxing ride from Uchida as he brought second-favourite Hatteuneun Gisang from the back of the field to the front in the final furlong to take the lead at exactly the right time.

Friend of the Punters: Toshio Uchida

Punters’ friend Uchida is in his second spell in Korea. In May 2008, he came to Busan for the first time and quickly established himself as the top rider at the track, winning 69 races by the end of the year. It was a record for a while year at the course, let alone just eight months. When he made an appearance at Seoul to ride in the Minister’s Cup, the capital’s punters thronged the paddock and gave him a standing ovation. It would be no exaggeration to say that at that time he was arguably the most popular Japanese man in Korea.

In early 2009 after leaving Korea, Uchida was presented with an award by the Japanese National Association of Racing (one step down from the JRA) in recognition of his performance overseas which also took into account his earlier time in Macau where he won 20 races including a Group 1.

Uchida had always said he would return to Korea. Many hoped that he would go to Seoul and try to be the first foreign rider to crack the capital. Understandably, however, after nearly two years back home in Japan, it was back to Busan he went where the more internationalized racing procedures – and less pervasive power of the local Jockey Union – make for a much more hospitable environment for visiting jockeys. Since returning he has ridden 11 winners and once more is setting the standard that local jockeys can aspire to.

And that is exactly why the KRA brings over foreign jockeys in the first place. Young Korean jockeys are improving and the influence of South African riding instructor Kenny Michel has been very positive. On the track though there needs to be someone to watch and learn from in terms of tactics and especially – as they all still sprint for the first corner – in judging pace. Uchida provides this. Congratulations to him on reaching this milestone.

Temperature’s Low But Ace Is High

Ace Galloper sent out an ominous warning to his rivals in the older horse division as he strolled to a four-length win at Ice Station Seoul Race Park this afternoon.

Ace Galloper returns a winner

In bitterly cold conditions, the four-year old led from gate-to-wire in the feature handicap to notch up his third consecutive win and his tenth in total from fifteen starts. Khanui Huye was second and Janggun Bada third but they might as well have been running in their own race such was Ace Galloper’s dominance of the ten furlong event. Being one of those born in Korea but conceived elsewhere, Ace Galloper couldn’t take part in the three-year old classics in 2010. Indeed even as a four-year old he may find his Stakes options limited but it is clear that Ace Galloper is going to be the horse to beat in the in the big Sunday afternoon handicaps this year.

Ace Galloper was ridden by champion jockey Cho Kyoung Ho but even with big rival Moon Se Young indisposed having picked up an injury during yesterday’s Herald Business, things didn’t go entirely his way as Jung Ki Yong took jockey of the day honours with a quick-fire treble in mid-afternoon.

Jung Ki Yong and New Bird (4) hold off Kim Hae Sun and Milwaukee Money (8) in race 8

First up for Jung was a five-length win on Yeongtap in race 6, quickly followed by a much tighter victory on New Bird in race 7. Then in race 8, Jung and 5/1 shot Namchonuichukje upset Cho on favourite Legal Lady to complete his treble.

Jung had the chance of a fourth in race 9, however, despite setting the early pace on Blooming, he – along with all the other fancied runners – fell away in the home straight to leave the way clear for a 130/1 outsider, the Japanese bred Burning Sky (Stravinsky) to take an unlikely victory. To rub salt in the wounds of all but a very few lucky punters, 50/1 Sky Center and Kim Hae Sun got up to claim second to complete a 5400/1 exacta. Gyongmaman did not win it. If he had, he would not be bothering to type this now.

The key characteristic of Seoul today was that it was cold. Very cold. The warmest it got all day was four degrees below zero while six below was the average. By comparison it was positively t-shirt and shorts weather down at Busan where they manages a princely three degrees above for their six-race card which included co-features. In the first of them, Japanese jockey Yoshi Aoki got his first big race win of the year as he partnered last year’s Derby third Triple Sinhwa to a smart win. Although he picked up a ban in the process, Aoki will still look on it as a good day’s work. In the finale, favourite Nuri Choegang [Awesome Of Course – Jamie Love (Roy)] flashed past Kiwi’s Playboy in the final furlong to take a surprisingly comfortable victory.

The colder it is, the brighter it is - Seoul shivered in sub-zero temperatures today

Handy Andy!

Andy’s Runner Wins New Year Stakes / Magic Party, Sun Hero Lose / KJ Khan Finally Wins

Opening day of the 2011 season at Seoul Race Park saw four-year old Andy’s Runner take victory in the feature New Year’s Commemorative Stakes.

Andy's Runner with Park Tae Jong (up) and trainer Bae Dae Sun (left) in the New Year's Stakes winner's circle

Last year, after never finishing worse than fourth in his first eleven races, Andy’s Runner earned himself a shot at the Minister’s Cup, the final Classic of the season. It didn’t go to plan as he found himself outclassed by the year’s elite. No-one outclassed him today though. Sent off the 2/1 favourite, Park Tae Jong brought Andy’s Runner into contention as the fourteen-strong field rounded the home turn and the pair never looked in danger once they hit the front with just over a furlong to go.

Andy's Runner

Second, a length behind the winner, was Tamnaseontaek with 150/1 outsider Hey Day taking a surprise third. As for the winner, Andy’s Runner it was a fifth win from fourteen starts and for Park Tae Jong, winner of more races than any jockey in Korea, it was yet another big race triumph.

Things didn’t go quite to plan for Park a race later, however, as two of last year’s stand-out two-year olds faced each other for the first time. Park’s mount, the filly Magic Party had won the Gwacheon Citizen’s Cup while colt Sun Hero, had taken home the Breeders’ Cup. Today they both stepped up in distance to run around two turns of the Seoul Racecourse for the first time but were still sent off odds-on to fill the top two places. However, neither of them had any answer to The Almighty, a four-year old who was an also-ran on the Classic trail last year. Magic Party was a well beaten fourth while Sun Hero trailed home in sixth.

The Almighty and Kim Gui Bae win race 10 - Magic Party and Sun Hero trailed home unplaced

We’ll give the pair of them another chance or two before deciding that they’re not going to be able to make the transition to the longer distances required higher level racing, but it wasn’t a good start for either of them. For The Almighty, particularly veteran jockey Kim Gui Bae, it was a great start to 2011.

Finally: K J Khan

Finally, there was the big class 1 handicap to sort out. Torpedo Mast was sent off the slight favourite but the grey could only manage third place as K J Khan just got the better of Cheonji Jangsu in a battling finish.

Japanese bred K J Khan [Squirtle Squirt – Bulge (Assatis)] was winning at class 1 for the first time in sixteen attempts – his last win coming in his final outing at class 2 level in January 2009. Today, perseverance paid-off.

Herald Business New Year’s Stakes – Seoul Race Park – 1800M – January 8, 2011

1. Andy’s Runner (KOR) [The Groom Is Red – Cheonmachong (Lost Mountain)] – Park Tae Jong – 2.9, 1.4
2. Tamnaseontaek (KOR) [War Zone – Every Michelle (Every Intent)] – Choi Bum mHyun – 4.5
3. Hey Day (KOR) [Silent Warrior – Dignified Era (Exclusive Era)] – Shin Hyoung Chul – 31.8

Distances: 1 length/1.5 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Sagunyukjin 5. Anseong Chukje 6. Mr. Rocky 7. Cheongha Eutteum 8. Forest Wind 9. High Point 10. Kanui Byeol 11. Mighty Girl 12. Gayabobae 13. Dansimga 14. Best Holls

It took a lot of coffee to melt the snow still lingering around Seoul Race Park on opening day

Racing returns to Seoul tomorrow with eleven races from 11:20 to 18:00 while down at Busan there are six races from 12:40 to 16:30.

Weekend Preview

Busan Gets 2011 Racing Underway / New Year’s Stakes at Seoul

Time for a dull story in the third-person: Gyongmaman once worked in an office in England. Every day, he would take the same bus as a co-worker who while very pleasant, was hopelessly un-coordinated and during icy winters would cling on to Gyongmaman’s jacket while making the five-minute walk from bus-stop to office. On Gyongmaman’s last day, she asked him to think of her in winter while he was “sunning himself in Asia”. With the temperature in Seoul reaching a high of eight degrees below zero today, he did just that. In fairness to her, however, it was indeed, gloriously sunny.

Point of the story: None really, except to say that it’s cold here. But after a two-week break, the peninsula’s punting brains are about to be warmed as racing returns with a cracking set of races headed by the Herald Business New Year’s Stakes at Seoul on Saturday.

Will it be a Happy New Year ('s Stakes) for Best Holls and Lee Sang Hyeok?

Best Holls and Tamnaseontaek both took Stakes wins in 2010 and will be looking to add to them in the nine-furlong New Year’s race which also includes Classic also-rans Forest Wind and Kanui Byeol. Cheongha Eutteum was highly thought of as a two-year old but was injured after running in this race last year and makes only her third start since while Anseong Chukje finished 2010 in good form.

Two races later, Bally Brae starts off his career as a nine-year old in the feature handicap. Gradually the handicapper is giving his some respite from the crazy weights he’s had to carry of late but will still be giving at least two kilos to a field including Serendipper, K J Khan and Mr. Loving Life. It would be very sad to see the former Horse of the Year Bally Brae trail any of this lot home but given the weights, he’s still going to have an awful lot to do.

Sunday sees Ace Galloper and Jilpunggangho among the entries in a competitive handicap, while down at Busan, there are co-feature races. Look out for Aussie bred three-year old Peolpeol making his first attempt at class 1 racing in the first of them.

Here’s what’s happening when and where:

Friday January 7

Busan Race Park: 10 races from 12:00 to 18:00
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 13:30 to 17:30

Saturday January 8

Seoul Race Park:12 races from 11:20 to 17:50
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 12:10 to 17:10

Sunday January 9

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:20 to 18:00
Busan Race Park: 6 races from 12:40 to 16:30

2011 Racing Schedule Now Available

We are just three days away from the start of the 2011 Korean racing season at Busan Race Park this coming Friday. Throughout the year, the two thoroughbed tracks at Seoul and Busan will each host 94 days of racing while on Jeju Island there will be 92 days of pony racing.

They're (almost) off in 2011!

Racing takes place at Seoul on Saturdays and Sundays, Busan on Fridays and Sundays and Jeju on fridays and Saturdays.

The Korean Derby is set for Sunday May 15 and the Grand Prix on Sunday December 11. Busan’s bug day is the KRA Cup Mile on Sunday April 3. During late July and early August, there are four weekends of evening racing at all three tracks.

Click here for the full calendar and check back here every week for a preview of the weekend’s action.

Come Racing in 2011!

2010: Trainers, Tragedy & Optimism

We’re just a few days away from the start of the 2011 season so it’s time to look back at some of the key events – randomly selected and not necessarily in order of importance- of 2010:

Number One: Tough Win

Dongbanui Gangja’s Reign Fizzles Out – We got our showdowns. The double-Grand Prix Champion Dongbanui Gangja faced the young pretender Tough Win on three separate occasions and three times he was beaten. Twice though he beat himself as the five-year old proved too much of a handful for his jockey to keep him running straight.

Meanwhile in the Grand Prix itself, Tough Win failed to stay the distance as Korean-born Mister Park took the end of season honours. Despite this, for his Busan Metropolitan and KRA Cup Classic wins, Tough Win is Gyongmaman’s Horse of the Year.

Lee Shin Young

Lee Shin Young Becoming the First Korean Woman to Pass the Trainer’s Exam – Thirty year-old Lee, who was only the second Korean woman to be granted a jockey’s license became the first to pass the Trainer’s exam.

For the moment Lee continues to ride in races but is now eligible to move over to the backstretch when a vacancy becomes available.

Peter Wolsley’s Success at Busan – Australian trainer Peter Wolsley has now completed three full seasons as a license-holder at Busan. 2010 was his stand-out year saddling 38 winners from 223 starters for a strike rate of 17% with 41% of his starters managing to place. Were it not for a lack of truly top quality horses in his string – hardly his fault – Wolsley would have been a strong contender for Trainer of the Year.

Wolsley’s stable stars have been Gyongkwaehanjilju, winner of five of his seven starts as a three-year old this year and the late-developing filly Ganghan Yeoja and with a number of promising two-year olds in his barn, next year looks set to be a very interesting season. Wolsley now receives the majority of horses from two Jeju farms – Isidore and Pegasus – which both have foreign interests. Indeed, when Pegasus Farm’s two-year old filly Secret Whisper won back in November under Japanese jockey Yoshi Aoki, it made for a winner that was essentially foreign-owned, trained and ridden. Training is the key to improving Korean racing and Wolsley’s presence is setting the bar higher for the local training colony which, while containing some talented handlers, has for many years essentially been an old-boys club of ex-jockeys.

Sires – Officer has become the latest recruit to the stallion colony in Korea. He joins the likes of Menifee, Volponi, Yehudi and Ecton Park as recent additions to what is becoming a strong breeding operation on the peninsula.

Park Jin Hee: 1982-2010

Jockey Park Jin Hee Commits Suicide – Without doubt, those most affected by the suicide of Park Jin Hee were her family, who lost a talented and beautiful daughter in the most awful of circumstances at the age of just 28.

However, in the aftermath of that desperate Friday in March when Park didn’t appear for her rides at Busan and was later found dead in her apartment, Korean racing was shaken. The young jockey had left a suicide note in which she blamed the pressures of racing and her mistreatment by trainers – naming one of Busan’s most prominent as particularly responsible. The KRA faced a barrage of online criticism from Korea’s poisonous “netizens” and, while they quickly moved on to their next target, back in Busan, jockeys boycotted the named trainer’s horses for several weeks. Park Jin Hee was the second lady jockey to take her own life, after Lee Myoung Hwa in 2005.

KRA Levels Up its English – This blog has been known in the past to be slightly unkind about the KRA’s attempts at English but, credit where credit it due, in 2010 it introduced an English language results and race-cards service. It’s not detailed but the vital information is there and, coupled with the race videos which are now freely available as well as the links to the Studbook page for each entrant, makes for a fantastic service. Sadly since he departure of James Perry from the Stewards panel, English language stewards’ reports from Seoul are no longer produced. The KRA says there is a “vacancy” for a foreign steward – whether they plan to fill it is another matter.

The Regulator – As we enter 2011, things are much the same as they were a year ago. The government continues to be stuck in its position of wishing to appear to be tough on gambling but not wanting to do anything that will seriously jeopardise the vast tax revenues racing generates. Trials on an Electronic ID card to track punters’ expenditure began and looks like it will ultimately be made compulsory. Meanwhile, we saw the usual slew of stories about illegal gambling. Corruption stories involving jockeys didn’t help matters and the KRA is still yet to resolve a long-running dispute over an off-track gambling site in the southern city of Suncheon.

Yeongcheon To Build Korea’s Third Thoroughbred Racecourse – The small city of Yeongcheon, just outside Daegu in North Gyeongsang province was named as the location of Korea’s newest racecourse. The track, which is scheduled to open in 2014 will also host a resort and something called a “Horse-Park”. It’s opening also looks likely to spell the end of year-round racing at Seoul and Busan with each of the three tracks taking turns to be “dark” for four months of the year while the other two operate.

Kim Tae Hee

Kim Tae Hee Stars In Grand Prix – OK, so the finished movie wasn’t that great but it had some amazing racing scenes and got the sport some mainstream attention. Plus punters got to see Kim Tae Hee in racing silks.

Young Jockeys – The standard of riding in Korea is definitely on the up. Those who gained their licenses in the last few years such as Lee Sang Hyuk and Jo In Kwen are already well established in the upper ranks of the jockeys’ championship while Kim Hae Sun, who qualified in 2009, looks like she could go on to become the peninsula’s most successful ever female rider. Meanwhile, Busan’s Park Geum Man was a popular winner of the Derby.

Foreign Jockeys – It’s not looking so positive for foreign riders. At the beginning of 2011, there are no non-Japanese foreign jockeys in Korea following the departure of Martin Wepner in May. And even for the Japanese, it still seems as though Seoul is unbreakable with Hiro Hamada the only non-Korean plugging away in the capital. On the front of their English website, the KRA is still advertising for foreign jockeys. Any-takers should click here. Things are very tough here though. Martin Wepner didn’t endear himself to everyone but he was tenacious and a battler and he was able to be successful, but one doubts it would be an experience he would want to repeat.

In no particular order – Mister Park, Yeonseung Daero, Cheonnyeon Daero, Dangdae Bulpae, Money Car, Sangseung Ilro, Love Cat, Tough Win, Triple Seven, Dongbanui Gangja, Baekgwang, Bally Brae, Larrycat, Dongbang Rose, Euro Fighter, Northern Ace, Sun Hero and Magic Party are just some of the 2,810 thoroughbred athletes who entertained us through triumph and tragedy in 2010.

Mister Park and You Hyun Myung in the Grand Prix Winner's Circle