Nice Buddy made light work of the widest gate to cruise to the front and stay on to win the KNN Cup (1600M KOR-G3), the final leg of the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer for fillies and mares at Busan Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.

Having finished as runner-up in both prior legs of the series, Boryeonglightqueen was sent off as the favourite, with defending champion and Donga Ilbo winner Raon Forest and Ttukseom Cup winner Fantastic Value the only other two in single digits in the market. Nice Buddy wasn’t exactly missed by punters, but having drawn the widest gate, she started as the sixth choice.

Just as with Born Dia in the SROA Chairman’s Sprint two weeks ago, the wide draw proved to problem for Nice Buddy as she followed Oneuldo Smile across and into a remarkably easy lead. From then on, jockey Lee Hyo-sik was able to control the tempo and still have plenty left for the home straight, where they saw off the late challenge of Gladius, with Yeosu Super Star coming home in 3^rd.

Boryeonglightqueen launched her usual late run but could only manage 4^th. Fantastic Value was 6^th while with no pace to run at, Raon Forest was back in 8^th. In terms of the overall Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer series, Boryeonglightqueen and Fantastic Value topped the table with 600 points apiece.

“I thought Oneuldo Smile would be quick away so I wanted to go with her and then the pace was a bit slower than expected so I decided it would be ok to take over the lead” winning jockey Lee Hyo-sik told KRBC.

“Even though she’s a filly, she has the strength of the colts but while I was happy to be with her for the KNN Cup, I didn’t put our winning chnaces at higher than twenty or thirty percent as there were so many other contenders and this was (Nice Buddy’s) first time in a Graded race.”

Winning owner Yang Jin-ho also spoke with KRBC. “She’s the first horse I bought and the first to run in a major race, so I am very happy and proud of her. I was disappointed when she drew gate sixteen, but given the result, maybe it was a good thing. My only hope for her is that she stays fit and healthy.”

For jockey Lee Hyo-sik, it was a third Graded Stakes winner and his second in this race following Calm Strong in 2023. Trainer Kang Eun-seok, who has been licensed since 2018, was tasting Graded success for the first time.

Nice Buddy is a four-year-old filly by American sire Central Banker and out of Here Comes Jody (by Freud). She was imported in-utero and therefore runs as a Korean-bred but was unable to participate in the Triple Tiara series last year. She moves on to six wins from twelve career starts.

The Queens’ Tour will resume later this year with the Jeju Governor’s Cup (1400M KOR-G3) at Seoul on September 20^th, the first leg of the Fall/Winter swing, which should include some fillies who come off the Triple Tiara trail.

Next week the Triple Crown series concludes with the Minister’s Cup (2000M KOR-G2) at Seoul. There is no Triple Crown on the line, but both the KRA Cup Mile winner Funny Wild and the Korean Derby champion Hwang Geum Eo Jjang are expected to line up for the final three-year-old Classic.