While most of the attention this past weekend was focused on the opening leg of the 2019 Triple Crown at Busan, up at Seoul it proved to be an excellent couple of days for Manuel Porcu, as the track’s newest overseas jockey notched his first wins in Korea.

Porcu, who is from Italy, made his Seoul debut on March 30th but drew a blank on his first weekend with his best finish being a 4th. Returning last Saturday with a more promsing book of rides, it didn’t take long for him to make his breakthrough, the 25-year-old scoring on race 2 on Winner Say for trainer Luigi Riccardi and owner Katsumi Yoshida. Porcu guided the filly, who began as favourite,  to her maiden victory by almost three lengths.

Sunday saw a repeat for Porcu, as he took race 3 on 7/1 chance Royal Shalom. He would then conclude his weekend’s work with a close 2nd place on 50/1 outsaide Bright Cat in the class 1 feature.

Porcu, who can ride at 51kg, joins five other foreign jockeys in the weighing room at Seoul. They are French pair Johan Victoire and David Breux, Antonio Da Silva of Brazil, the UK’s Alan Munro and Japan’s Masa Tanaka.