Saturday’s racing is at Seoul where there are 12 races from 10:45 to 18:00:
It’s been a long time since Choinma won – can he return to the winner’s circle at last on Saturday? (Pic: KRA)
Race 1: Class 6 (1000M) Allowance / KRW 40 Million
Three-year-old maidens to get us underway with six first-timers and six who have raced at least once before. (1) GEUM ROYAL was a rated 75/1 chance on debut on January 27th but ended up coming home in 2nd place. He’ll be much shorter today and can go one better. (5) PRIME QUEEN was much better-fancied in the same race but got a bad trip and raced greenly too. Hopefully she’s learned a bit and should be better today. (10) BLACK PUPIL is the only one of these who has raced twice and she improved last time. Of the debut-makers, (8) GABO PULL QUEEN and (4) FLYING THOR look most likely to make an impact first-up.
| Selections | (1) Geum Royal (8) Gabo Pull Queen (4) Flying Thor (10) Black Pupil |
| Next Best | 5, 2 |
| Fast Start | 2, 5, 10 |
Race 2: Class 6 (1300M) Allowance / KRW 40 Million
(6) COLORFUL JOY has finished 3rd on both starts to date and in the latest of those he just came off the worst in a very tight three-way finish. Even a place today will see him up in class next time, but he should exit class 6 with victory here. (3) ENDURANCE was much improved on his third start a month ago and looks to be figuring things out. He’ll be the main danger. (5) KKAEUCHIM also seems to be on the correct trajectory and can continue to improve. As for the rest of them, (4) NONSTOP WINNING and (8) KING OF EAGLE perhaps have the best chance of improving on indifferent debuts.
| Selections | (6) Colorful Joy (3) Endurance (5) Kkaeuchim (4) Nonstop Winning |
| Next Best | 8, 2 |
| Fast Start | 5, 10 |
Race 3: Class 6 (1300M) Allowance / KRW 24 Million
(7) VICAR BRACING is the one to beat here. He was favourite at this distance on February 2nd but was slow out of the gates and lost ground. He’s not a front-runner anyway but that did seem to do his chances in, and he ultimately finished 5th. Moon Se Young’s on today and he gets another chance. (9) WHITE FLOWER finished 6th in that race and is one of those who may challenge here while (10) DAEJI GONGJU and (11) SONGAM BARBIE came home 5th and 6th in a slightly stronger race than this last month and should be in the placing hunt. (5) LADY DIA best of the rest.
| Selections | (7) Vicar Bracing (11) Songam Barbie (9) White Flower (10) Daeji Gongju |
| Next Best | 5, 6 |
| Fast Start | 5, 9 |
Race 4: Class 5 (1000M) Handicap / KRW 40 Million
(5) FIRENZE HILL got his maiden win at this distance in December and then beat two of these on his way to 3rd place on his first try at this class on January 27th. He’ll be favourite. (6) WINNER BROWN has a 2nd and a 4th from two goes at this class so far. He should be on pace early and is one of two principle dangers. The other is (2) RICH RULES. A winner on debut in January, he is up in class here and while he will need to improve, he’s had seven weeks off and could go well. (4) EOMJI YEOWANG and (12) BANGTANMA, the latter up in class following back to back runner-up finishes, are others who can go close.
| Selections | (5) Firenze Hill (2) Rich Rules (6) Winner Brown (12) Bangtanma |
| Next Best | 4, 1 |
| Fast Start | 1, 6, 9 |
Race 5: Class 6 (1300M) Allowance / KRW 40 Million
Competitive looking filly-maiden. (4) DANGDAE JILJU comes in off the back of consecutive 3rd place finishes over 1000M. She’s run on very nicely both times and the step up in trip today may be what she needs to make the breakthrough. (1) IRON HEART was 3rd at this distance last time, an improved performance which she can build on today and she is set to be a big danger. (2) REIGN has been inconsistent but does have a 2nd place to her name and can be considered while (9) BLUE MEGA ELLA has run 6th in both outings to date, the most recent being at this distance and she should be on pace from the start. There are two first-time starters and of them, (5) DIA ROAD is from a top stable and trialled nicely four weeks ago.
| Selections | (4) Dangdae Jilju (1) Iron Heart (5) Dia Road (9) Blue Mega Ella |
| Next Best | 2, 6 |
| Fast Start | 5, 6, 8, 9 |
Race 6: Class 5 (1300M) Handicap / KRW 40 Million
(9) SUN OF THUNDER is up in class and despite being winless, looks nicely in here. He’s finished 2nd in in two of three starts to date and missed out by only a neck last time despite getting a challenging trip. He can win. (1) SHADOW MONEY and (7) CHANGSEONG LUCKY came home 5ht and 7th respectively when they raced each other at class and distance. Shadow Money was exceeding expectations that day while Changseong Lucky was slightly below them. The form should be reversed this time. (4) WON AGAIN and (11) HANIL DALBIT drop back in trip having raced at 1700M last start. It should suit Hanil Dalbit more.
| Selections | (9) Sun Of Thunder (7) Changseong Lucky (11) Hanil Dalbit (4) Won Again |
| Next Best | 1, 5 |
| Fast Start | 5, 7, 10, 12 |
Race 7: Class 4 (1200M) Handicap / KRW 60 Million
After three consecutive runner-up finishes, (4) RAON SERENA got her breakthrough last time out. She’s never finished worse than 3rd and while she is up in both class and distance today, she can maintain that record. (8) RICH MINE has plenty of experience at this level and while all three of her wins so far have been at 1000M, this should suit. (2) BACK TO BACK and (3) ILGAKSU both enter with recent form reading very nicely. Ilgaksu beat a couple of these while narrowly missing out over class and distance last time, while Back To Back is up in level today. (12) DELTA K is two starts into a comeback following a lengthy spell out and ran 2nd in a similar race to this last time.
| Selections | (4) Raon Serena (8) Rich Mine (3) Ilgaksu (2) Back To Back |
| Next Best | 12, 10 |
| Fast Start | 3, 4, 8, 9 |
Race 8: Class 4 (1300M) Handicap / KRW 60 Million
(1) MATCH CAPTAIN is the likely favourite here. He made all to score by eight-lengths at class and distance on February 3rd and while he does carry an additional 4kg today, the manner of that win suggests there is more to come. (7) INCHEON CHIEF was also a class and distance winner last time out. He too carries more weight but will equally be a threat again. (8) SUN START hung outwards for much of the way around when 6th last start four weeks ago. He was 2nd the time before that tough and Tanaka returns to the mount today. (6) INCHEON SPEED can have a line drawn through his latest after he missed the break. (9) HEUNG JJANG another who is better than his last start suggests.
| Selections | (1) Match Captain (7) Incheon Chief (8) Sun Start (6) Incheon Speed |
| Next Best | 9, 3 |
| Fast Start | 1, 7, 9 |
Race 9: Class 4 (1700M) Allowance / KRW 60 Million
A winner of three from four so far, (5) RAPIDOCUS carries more weight today and steps up to try two-turns for the first time but should be too good. (4) FAST FASHION is already a winner at the distance and comes in having run a solid 2nd at this class last time. He’ll sit off the pace and finish strongly. (1) HIN BYEOL ran well enough on her first try at the distance last time and should be in at least the placing hunt. (3) STRONG CAPTAIN can be forgiven his latest effort and given another chance here with an apprentice jockey taking off 4kg. (6) GANGSEO EUTTEUM looks best of the rest.
| Selections | (5) Rapidocus (4) Fast Fashion (3) Strong Captain (1) Hin Byeol |
| Next Best | 4, 9 |
| Fast Start | 6, 9, 11 |
Race 10: Class 3 (1700M) Handicap / KRW 75 Million
(5) GLOBAL CHUKJE is up in class here but he’s won three from four so far and scored by a full seven-lengths at this distance on January 27th. He carries a nice light weight and can win again. It’s a tough race though. (8) TAMNA KING won at class and distance five weeks ago and also finds himself very nicely in here. He’ll join Global Chukje on the early pace and has every chance. (3) WITH FRIENDSHIP ran well for 3rd over 1800M on his first try at this level and can be respected too. (4) ROAD KING and (11) MENI BLADE are others who should come under consideration.
| Selections | (5) Global Chukje (8) Tamna King (3) With Friendship (11) Meni Blade |
| Next Best | 4, 10 |
| Fast Start | 3, 5, 8, 10 |
Race 11: Class 2 (1800M) Handicap / KRW 90 Million
Really good-looking handicap here. (4) CHOINMA continues to dodge the winner’s circle. He was a serious player on the Triple Crown trail last year and even though he managed to go through the whole season without winning, he still put in some impressive performances. He missed out last time behind Clean Up Board but once again is top choice here. If he comes up short once more, any number can take advantage. (10) GLOBAL LINE steps up to this trip for the first time off the back of some very solid performances over 1400M and should be dangerous while (12) MUNHAK JOY can overturn the form on (5) NANCHOUI GOHYANG from the latter’s surprise victory at class and distance a month ago. Then there is (7) GEUMBIRANG and (9) BULMYEORUI JEWANG, who were both well fancied in that same race. However, they bumped into each other coming out of the gate with both jockeys being unseated. They’ll be players here.
| Selections | (4) Choinma (10) Global Line (9) Bulmyeorui Jewang (7) Geumbirang |
| Next Best | 12, 6 |
| Fast Start | 1, 4, 9 |
Race 12: Class 3 (1400M) Handicap / KRW 75 Million
(10) GAON QUEEN somewhat surprisingly beat (1) CHOCO CANDY as the pair finished 1st and 3rd over 1300M on January 20th. The two of them look the ones to beat again but this time Choco Candy can come out on top. Like those two, (9) MUNHAK TSUNAMI tackles seven-furlongs for the first time. He’ll likely be on the early pace and has plenty of promise. (5) NAMCHON ARTIST ran well for 2nd at class and distance in January. He comes in following eight weeks off and should get close today. (11) UNCLE OH is still a bit of an unknown quantity and could make for an interesting outsider.
| Selections | (1) Choco Candy (10) Gaon Queen (9) Munhak Tsunami (5) Namchon Artist |
| Next Best | 11, 3 |
| Fast Start | 1, 5, 9, 10 |
Horse Racing in Korea 