The 7th Asian Young Guns Jockey Challenge will be held at Seoul Racecourse this coming Saturday August 29. Two apprentice jockeys from Korea will be joined by nine others from around Asia, Oceania and South Africa for the four-race series which is being held in Korea for the first time.
Jye McNeil will be representing Australia in the Asian Young Guns (Pic: Ross Holburt)
Asian Young Guns was first held in 2009 at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne and has since been run in Singapore, Macau, New Zealand and South Africa. Jockeys will be arriving in Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday prior to Thursday’s barrier draw where their mounts will be drawn.
The Challenge is the opening event of the International Racing Festival at Seoul Racecourse this coming weekend which also includes trophy exchange races with a number of other racing authorities and culminates in the Asia Challenge Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Two horses from Japan arrived in Korea last Wednesday and three from Singapore, including defending champion El Padrino, arrived last Friday.
The Asia Challenge Cup will be screened live by the SBS Sports Channel while another big Stakes race, the KRA Cup Classic, will also be run on Sunday to conclude an important weekend for Korean racing.
Here are this year’s Asian Young Guns Challengers with their Career Rides (1st/2nd/3rd):
Jye McNeil (Australia) 2384(201/219/245)
Jack Wong (Hong Kong) 161(9/13/9)
Fuma Matsuwaka (Japan – JRA) 1021(82/64/66)
Tsubasa Sasagawa (Japan – NAR) 2202(165/159/164)
Dong Soo Kim (Korea – Seoul) 417(30/30/36)
Hee Won Jo (Korea – Busan) 255(12/21/14)
Yee Mo Choi (Macau) 1014(77/115/86)
Wong Kam Chong (Malaysia) 271(44/37/29)
Joshua Oliver (New Zealand) 661(37/32/57)
Zhi Yong See (Singapore) 863(56/42/54)
Craig Zackey (South Africa) 1599(126/116/125)
Click here to download full profiles and Challenge information
Points will be allocated to jockeys whose horses finish in the first 8 positions, ranging from 25 points for a win to 1 point for 8th as follows – 1st: 25; 2nd: 15; 3rd 10; 4th: 7; 5th: 5; 6th: 3; 7th: 2; 8th: 1 (if a horse is scratched, the affected rider will be awarded 6 points).
The four races will be over various classes and distances and will culminate with the KRW 150 Million Singapore Turf Club Trophy.
Horse Racing in Korea 