Beppu and Noda Score Maiden Wins at Seoul
Yesterday it was Akane Yamamoto in Busan, today it was the turn of Japanese jockeys Mai Beppu and Makoto Noda in Seoul to record their first winners in Korea.
Mai Beppu returns to scale a winner at Seoul
And after what had been a long wait, they did them in style too. Beppu was up first. She debuted in March this year but only had five rides before injuring an arm in the starting gate which put her out for two months. Today she finally got that elusive winner in race 5 as she took second favourite Seungseungmanseung (Buster’s Daydream – Dewhurst House) into an early lead that he never relinquished and raced away for an eleven length triumph. It was her 48th ride in Korea.
Makoto Noda had to wait until five races later on the card and his 53rd ride since debuting at the beginning of June.
Back among the winners: Makoto Noda with trainer Lim Bong Chun and his Interpreter
It was worth the wait as Noda partnered five-year old Australian import Khaki Halls (Refuse To Bend – Karamea Star) to victory in the feature race of the afternoon.
Noda sent Khaki Halls, who was returning to the track for the first time following an eight month lay-off, into an early lead and fought off the challenge of favourite Geumbi in the final furlong to win by two lengths.
On Sunday, both Noda and Beppu will travel to Busan to ride in the Busan Metropolitan City Mayor’s Cup. Full preview will be up imminently.
Today was the first day of evening racing – well afternoon and evening racing, the first race was 2:20pm and the last 8:50pm and it was also the first day of Lee Shin Young’s training career. In race 1, Lee became the first Korean woman to saddle a runner for a race and 35/1 outsider Red Money did her proud by finishing “in the money” in fourth place. Lee has one more runner on Sunday.
Lee’s former compatriot in the jockey ranks Lee Ae Li did not have a good day though, ending it in hospital after a nasty fall from filly Noble Harmony who sadly broke down in the back straight during race 8. Noble Harmony (Walkslikeaduck) was running for the 23rd time and was without a win. Nevertheless, she had picked up approximately $30,000 of prize money and was reasonably well-fancied today. Sadly the fracture in her leg was too severe for her to have any chance of making a recovery. May Noble Harmony rest in peace.
Seoul Nights
