AT SEOUL ON SUNDAY TWO 1400M CLASS 3 RACES WERE THE MAIN EVENTS ON THE CARD AND THE CONCLUDING RACE OF THE PAIR WAS WON BY GREAT STORM, who despite being the outsider of the field bar one got the prize by one-and-a-quarter lengths (writes Luke Humphreys).

Great Storm (Overanalyze) was an important winner for both jockey Jo Seong-hwan and trainer Lee Kang-seo with his one-and-a-quarter length victory proving enough to beat the 3.9 favourite Cheongryongui Cal. Great Storm was down in class but will presumably find himself straight back to class 2.

Latin American riders had a race-to-race double on the card with Luis Quiroz riding 23.2 chance THUNDER A ONE (Thunder Moccasin) to victory in Race 8 (1600M Class 4) whilst fifty minutes earlier Andre da Silva recorded his second Korean victory on his eighth ride with BLUE PIORA (Take Charge Indy) who landed Race 7 (1400M Class 3) by an impressive eleven-lengths in a time that was 2.2 seconds faster than standard for the class and grade.

The last victory for jockey Kim Hyo-jung before a trackwork injury in early June wason THE SUN STORY (Shackleford) on May 30. As it turned out her first weekend back of riding saw The Sun Story take his place in Race 5 (1700M Class 5) and they duly scored by three-lengths. The Sun Story had no issues with the extra 300M in distance and will now be up to Class 4 grade after completing this hat-trick of wins.

Kim Hyo-jung completed a double when riding HIGH FOLLY (The King) to an upset victory in Race 9 (1800M Class 4). That race saw 2.1 favourite Musket Cleaver, who had run a great 6th in the Derby in May in what was the final ride for Moon Se-young, run a disappointing 5^th.

Tony Castanheira unleashed a smart debutante winner at this venue last weekend and he produced yet another smart looking prospect in the shape of MR. DOR (Dortmund) in Race 3 (1400M Class 6) which just like he did in his seven-length trial win on June 18 absolutely destroyed his rivals when given some rein by his rider Kozzi Asano and eventually won by sixteen-lengths at juicy odds of 2.1.

The four-year-old Mr. Dor has had plenty of issues and taken a long time to get to the races, but it looks as if it may be worth the wait for connections if he can stay sound. His time of 1:26.9 was 2.1 seconds quicker than standard and just 0.9 seconds outside of the class record. Mr. Dor is raced by Choi Sang-il who stood the late pair of Dortmund and Bayern.

BUSAN ON SUNDAY HOSTED THE MAIN RACE OF THE WEEKEND IN THE SHAPE OF A 1400M CLASS 2 AND SMART FILLY KNICKS GO WON managed her biggest test to date in great style.

It does not seem to matter what the distance is for Knicks Go Won (Knicks Go) or where she settles in the run, she still runs to her best whether she has to do it ugly or brilliantly and she did it brilliantly in her first Class 2 race scoring by four-lengths. Jung Do-yun has ridden her in her last two starts and remains unbeaten on the Moon Hyeon-cheol trained Healing Farm Union owned three-year-old filly. She scored as the 2.7 favourite with World List Cat running a fine race in 2nd whilst the other popular picks included Race Man, 3.7, who was 6th, and Yongbi Paewang, 6.4, who was 9th.

The event prior, Race 6 (1800M Class 3), saw a smart one land the prize in YOUNGYOUNG BRAVO (Malibu Bulpae) who grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat for jockey Jin Kyum and trainer Thomas Gillespie. Youngyoung Bravo was recording his fifth win at start eight and despite looking beaten he knuckled down to score by a half-length as the 3.3 favourite and will no doubt continue to progress. His only recent defeat has been behind the incredibly impressive Saesidae Won in April who has been off the scene since.

Seo Seung-un rode a double and that commenced when PORT MORE (Gemologist) made it back-to-back wins in Race 4 (1600M Class 5) with a three-length victory. He was impressive when winning on June 12 over the course, distance, and grade and followed up that win just as impressively. ENCORE (Air Force Blue) completed the double for Seo in Race 5 (1200M Class 4) with a dashing front-running victory from the outside gate proving too good for 1.8 favourite Golden Empire by three-quarters of a length.

In Race 3 (1400M Class 5) the Kang Hyoung-gon prepared three-year-old filly P.D SPECIAL (Shackleford) made it two consecutive wins from on-pace roles under Franco da Silva scoring by five-lengths as the 2.2 favourite.

ON SATURDAY AT SEOUL SUPREME SOCKS struck another winnable 1600M Class 2 and followed up his June 21 victory with a neck score for Johan Victoire and Luigi Riccardi.

Supreme Socks (Flameaway), 4.9 second favourite, defeated the 3.4 favourite Haksan Dark Horse by a diminishing margin with Blue Nello, 6.0, in 3rd ahead of Yeonhui Hero, 7.7, in 4th and Myeongseong Chukje, 5.6, in 5th.

GLOBAL CHAMP (Gaon Champ) returned to the winners’ circle with a soft four-length victory under Song Jae-chul in Race 9 (1800M Class 3). He was ridden perfectly just behind the speed and put it beyond doubt when launched early in the home straight. He has now won five races from eight starts and shows no signs of slowing down at this stage. Segwang Fighter was 2nd with Perfect Danaeun, 3.9 third choice, in 3rd. The Luigi Riccardi trained Charming Queen was well backed late to start the 2.9 second favourite but second-up from a six-month layoff dropped out to finish 6th of the eight runners after leading.

One of the more impressive performances of the day came from RAON BLAIDE (Musket Man) in Race 4 (1400M Class 5) who despite rising significantly in weight to carry the top weight in the race of 57kg absolutely destroyed his rivals by an extending thirteen-lengths as the 2.3 favourite. His main danger in the market Gwanaksan Champ, 2.7, lost his chance at the start with a bad beginning. Seo Seung-un was the winning rider on Raon Blaide and he followed up forty-five minutes later on X-FACTOR (Federalist) in Race 5 (1300M Class 5). X-Factor has been much improved over the last couple of runs and defeated Whiz Point by a half-length, which was having his fourth start for his fourth defeat as favourite.

In Race 3 (1400M Class 6) the Kozzi Asano ridden Tony Castanheira trained RACE DIVA (Race Day) broke her maiden at the fifth time of asking with a ten-length victory as the 2.0 favourite.

HOPE K (Mitole) took the opener (1000M Class 4), a maiden for imported juveniles, with an eye-catching six-length score under Jang Chu-youl. He is only the second Korean runner by Mitole, the other being Gwanaksan Storm, a winner of three from nine to date. There are two other Mitole juveniles yet to debut. Hope K scored by six-lengths as the 2.0 favourite over 2.6 second choice Grand Pas Classic and in doing so was reversing the form on that horse from their debuts on May 31. Mighty Saver a la May 31 was behind those two horses in 3rd. The winner of that race at the end of May was South Carnival so he might be worth following when next at the races.

THERE WERE MULTIPLE PARTICIPANTS WITH DOUBLES AT THE BUSAN MEETING ON FRIDAY. INEVITABLY, SEO SEUNG-UN WAS AMONG THEM AND HE WON THE MAIN RACE OF THE DAY ON WONDERFUL JONES for trainer Thomas Gillespie.

Wonderful Jones (New Legend) started the 3.0 favourite in Race 7 (1600M Class 3) although he would not have been favourite if it were not for the scratching at the gates of the original odds-on favourite Daeseong Gold who was found to be not fit to run. The task of Wonderful Jones was made easy once that scratching took place and he scored by three-lengths in what ended up being a very winnable race for the four-year-old colt.

The other win for Seo Seung-un on the day was on the Bart Rice trained AEGIS CROWN (Shackleford) who began much better than he did when resuming in June and therefore was able to race on the speed and land Race 3 (1200M Class 5) by three-quarters of a length as the 4.2 second choice. Road To Number One was the 2.4 favourite who finished 3rd after leading.

Bart Rice completed a double when STEALTH MODE (Thunder Moccasin) bounced back to his best form in Race 5 (1800M Class 4) with a terrific three-length win from the front under gun apprentice Nam Jeong-hyeok. Stealth Mode was only recording his second win at start nineteen but had run exceptionally good races in defeat behind some smart horses in 2025 before being off the scene for eleven months. His sixth run of this preparation proved to be by far his best and it would be no surprise if he could progress further.

Regarding Nam Jeong-hyeok he had not ridden for two months after suffering a fall on the way to the start in a Busan barrier trial on May 14. He had been given the clearance to return to riding late last month but did not return until this weekend as he wanted to make sure he was back to 100% fitness. Well, he most certainly was as the victory on Stealth Mode was his second of the day as his opening victory came in the very first race (1000M Class 6) on OASIS QUEEN (Colors Flying) who led throughout to win impressively by four-lengths in the opening juvenile fillies maiden.

The other jockey with multiple success on the day was Jin Kyum who rode FANTASTIC GREEN (Afleet Express) to a six-length success in Race 2 (1600M Class 6) before following up on the Moon Hyeon-cheol prepared POWERFUL MENIFEE (New Legend) in Race 4 (1300M Class 5) who after an odds-on defeat at his previous run justified odds-on favouritism this time with a five-length score. The main races scheduled for next week include an 1800M Class 2 at Busan on Friday, which will see Doctor Chris looking to return to winning ways after competing in Triple Crown races. A 1200M Class 2 at Seoul on Saturday, which should see a good field going on current entries. A 1200M Class 1 at Busan on Sunday, the equivalent of the 1200M Class 1 held at Seoul on July 5 as the last lead-up for the Busan based sprinters before the Korea Sprint where G2 Chairman’s Sprint winner Born Dia is entered as is 2023 Triple Tiara winner Jeulgeounyeojeong who has not raced since bombing out in the second and third stages of the Autumn/Winter Queen’s Tour. And an 1800M Class 1 at Seoul on Sunday which will potentially see the progressive Luigi Riccardi trained stayer G B Vault running out of his grade