Trial 1: Very slow heat even considering the conditions. Only three passed. Jungang Yeoje won three of her first four starts in 2016 but went badly off the boil. She last raced in August 2017. Daeho Myeongga stood in the gate on his last start in Decmber and was sent back to two starting tests and barrier trials. One more to go.
Trial 2:American Power was 3rd in last year’s Korean Derby but only raced once more on 2017, finishing well down the field in the Minister’s Cup. He had already re-qualified in a December trial but was sent to sharpen up in this one in which he came 2nd, a neck behind Sinhyeokmyeong, who recorded a 2st and a 2nd in two outings early last year before suffering suspensory ligament damage. He looked sharp. Among others (more…)
Three-year-olds were the standout performers in Korea last weekend with some of the best of the crop turning in eye-catching performances at both Seoul & Busan.
Ecton Blade won the Breeders’ Cup race at Seoul in December and so headed into the New Year as the leading Triple Crown contender. 2nd placegetter in that race and Seoul’s top juvenile of last year Choinma could only manage another 2nd place on his own seasonal debut two weeks ago but Ecton Blade made no mistake at Busan on Sunday. He’s already won over 1600M before and went into Sunday’s race 3, at the KRA Cup Mile distance as the prohibitive favourite, fully justifying it by sauntering to an eight-length win. Stiffer tests await.
Ecton Blade’s win leaves the top sixteen three-year-olds (sixteen being the maximum field-size) with Triple Crown eligibility currently looking like this:
1. Ecton Blade [Ecton Park] 2= Sinui Myeongryeong (filly) [Hansen] 2= Choinma [Menifee] 4. Yeonghui Sidae (filly) [Hansen] 5. Captain Force [Peace Rules] 6. Divide Wind [Menifee] 7. Magic Ten (filly) [Rock Hard Ten] 8. Hoeng Un Gol [Forest Camp] 9. Meni Bada [Menifee] 10. World Sun [Officer] 11. King Jjang [Simon Pure] 12= Green K (filly) [Chapel Royal] 12= Global Line [Rock Hard Ten] 12= Hae Hu [Peace Rules] 12= Bugyeong Daebak (filly) [Forest Camp] 12= Blue Flag (filly) [Menifee]
Ecton Blade’s trainer Kim Young Kwan has an embarassment of riches that has seen 20 of his 40 runners so far in 2018 win. Even my elementary maths can calculate that’s a scarcely believable 50% strike rate and 70% of his runners have finished in the Quinella. Perhaps the richest of all the talents could be Rainha.
The exiting filly stepped up to a mile for what was her third career start and Rainha maintained her 100% record in a dismissively easy manner, cruising around on the bridle for a four-length win. Having been imported in-utero, she’s not on the Classic trail but nevertheless looks a very promising talent.
Rainha is owned by Shunsuke Yoshida and her dam is Allwise (Mr. Greeley) who had three foals in Japan before being relocated to Nokwon Farm on Jeju Island in late 2014 while in foal to Gold Allure. That resulting foal was Rainha. In the meantime, her filly by Heart’s Cry, born a year earlier and called Historia, last November won the TVK Sho at Tokyo Racecourse and now boasts a record of three wins from nine starts in the JRA.
Also in the non-eligible three-year-old ranks isMoonhak Chief. The US import by Pioneerof The Nile stepped up to class 2 and also to 1800M for the first time at Seoul on Sunday. And mightilu impressive he was too, being ridden patiently by Lim Gi Won early on beofre stikign the front with just over a furlong to go and running on to win by a comfortable two lengths. He’s now won five of his seven outings.
In other news, Doraonpogyeongseon (Kantharos) went down by a nose in Busan’s Sunday sprint feature. Under an apprentice jockey so as he wouldn’t have to carry 60kg, the third-placegetter in the Korea Sprint couldn’t quite get up over 1200M, beaten a nose by Ever In Ever (Sharp Humor)/
Horse Racing in Korea 