AT SEOUL ON SUNDAY A 1200M CLASS 2 WAS THE LAST OF THIRTY-FIVE THOROUGHBRED RACES ACROSS KOREA FOR THE WEEKEND AND RAON SILENCE recorded a comfortable win from an on-pace role giving jockey Jo Jae-ro a second winner of the day and a fifth winner for the weekend (writes Luke Humphreys).

Raon Silence (Musket Man) had been caught on the line at her previous start and chased home Roshe the time prior but proved too good by four-lengths as the 2.2 favourite with Drone Killer, 7.3, and Spalta, 6.8, doing the chasing for the minors with Excellent Tan, 8.1, and Star Trek, 7.5, in 6th and 8th places respectively.

Jo Jae-ro had earlier rode a winner that was just as impressive in the shape of SINGSING NASHE (Nashville) who produced one of the more impressive two-year-old performances of the season so far with an excellent seven-length front-running victory in Race 2 (1000M Class 4) which followed up his thirteen-length trial win on July 23. Whilst the track was fast the time of 58.8 seconds was outstanding and was just a half-second slower than both the class and course record.

Race 9 (1800M Class 3) saw GENERAL WIND (Yeonseung Daero) bounce back to form with a four-length success from the front under Furkan Yuksel justifying an odds-on quote of 1.6. General Wind has proven to be a smart type when controlling the race from the top however had bombed out at his previous start when unable to take the lead away from The Derby winner Hwang Geum Eo Jang and subsequently working hard but he had almost no competition this time not just in the run but also at the finish.

A Spanish named colt with a Spanish speaking jockey were the winners of Race 4 (1300M Class 5) with QUERENCIA (Concord Point) and Luis Quiroz eventually getting on top in a three-way photo finish. The winning trainer was Jung Ho-ik who completed a double when GLOBAL SERVE (To Honor And Serve) landed Race 7 (1200M Class 4) and that completed a double for Kozzi Asano as the Tony Castanheira trained FLYING SMART (Old Fashioned) earlier had won Race 5 (1300M Class 5) by a nose as the 3.0 favourite despite coming from midfield and receiving kickback.

Race 1 (1000M Class 6) for the locally bred juveniles saw an excellent finish with the Andre da Silva ridden TAEPYEONG SG (South Beach) holding on by a nose over the flying Raon Charis Girl, who was still some five-lengths from the lead with 100 metres to go, and 1.7 favourite Luna Socks. Once again in Race 6 (1200M Class 5) Andre da Silva held on in a photo finish on 2.9 second favourite HAKSAN TAEPUNG (South Beach) which resumed with victory by the barest possible margin over 2.4 favourite Whiz Crown which as a juvenile filly against her elders lost no admirers in defeat as in another stride she would have won. However, the former Champion Jockey at Selangor won Race 8 (1700M Class 4) in completely opposite fashion as 2.6 favourite JEONGSANG HERO (Beau Liam) led throughout to score by six-lengths in what was a surely a confidence boosting win for the three-year-old colt after perhaps losing some form after an incident at the starting stalls in a race in January.

ON THE SAME DAY BUSAN HELD THE MAIN RACE OF THE DAY IN THE COUNTRY WITH AN 1800M CLASS 1 AND PRIME SECRET made it a hat-trick of victories in handicaps and back-to-back Class 1 wins with a strong two-length score as the 2.4 favourite over 3.8 second favourite Cardinal Force.

Prime Secret (Upstart) was carrying the equal topweight of 57.5kg, but it did not stop him from denying Cardinal Force, who attempted to lead throughout, with a further ten-lengths back to Beolmaui Monster, 8.4. The big disappointments were Oasis Red, 10.8, and Young Skywalker, 4.8, who both looked progressive types during the winter, but both have really failed to fire over the last couple of months.

The win of Prime Secret completed a double for rider Jin Kyum as he earlier rode SEOGWI GREAT (Central Banker) to land Race 3 (1400M Class 5) and that win completed a double for Kang Hyoung-gon as he trained BURUI PYEONGHWA (Centralcommand) to win Race 2 (1200M Class 5).

In Race 5 (1800M Class 3) The Derby runner-up FANTASTIC FORCE (To Honor And Serve) finally recorded his second career victory as a 1.2 favourite although made some hard work of it as he only got on top late on but he did draw clear and scored by one-and-a-quarter lengths under Seo Seung-un. 

Other winners on the south-east card included FLYING MENACE (Cowboy Cal) in Race 4 (1600M Class 4), which under Choi Eun-gyeong recorded back-to-back victories over a decent field, whilst ENCORE (Air Force Blue) was a strong one-and-a-half length on pace winner of the concluding Race 7 (1200M Class 4) giving Seo Seung-un a second winner for the day.

ON SATURDAY AT SEOUL A COMPETITIVE 1200M CLASS 3 CLOSED THE CARD AND IT WAS AN EXCELLENT FINISH BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN FANCIES BUT EVEN MONEY FAVOURITE MAEUM HANA got up right on the line to deny Gold Catcher by a head with Crazy Mango a half-length away in 3rd.

Maeum Hana (Gaon Champ) won four races consecutively across the winter and spring before only managing 4th at his first run back in July when looking the winner before peaking on his run badly. He made the turn awkwardly and looked to have a lot to do to catch co-favourites Gold Catcher, 6.4, and Crazy Mango, 7.4, but got up to land the prize under Kozzi Asano who was riding the horse for the first time for trainer Choi Yong-geon and owner Woo Tae-yul. That trio were combining for their second win of the week after Gamsaui Him, which Asano was also riding for the first time, won last Monday.

Thirty minutes earlier SU BU TAI (Concord Point) made it three wins from his past four starts when scoring by four-lengths under Luis Quiroz in Race 9 (1400M Class 4). He bled in the defeat sandwiched in between so he is building up a good record. 

Jo Jae-ro won jockey honours on the day riding a treble which began when SUN DOLPUNG (Runhappy) won Race 4 (1300M Class 5) giving Moon Se-young his second victory as a trainer. Jo rode his second winner on the card in Race 7 (1400M Class 4) when 4.2 fourth market choice WIN CATCHER (Seeking The Soul) catched Young Fighter, 3.8, right on the line with Dream Remain, 3.7, and Royal Best, 4.0, in 4th and 5th. The treble was completed when SURE WIN (Bernardini) produced a big win under a mammoth weight in Race 8 (1600M Class 3) and she did it easily. Tiger Roar, placegetter in two of the three legs of the Triple Tiara, was once again caught for speed over a distance short of her best and could only manage 3rd as the 1.6 favourite.

Kim Hyo-jung had a double which commenced when HIGHLIGHT (Concord Point) led throughout to win Race 1 (1000M Class 6) for the juveniles at odds of 30.4. She also won from the front on the Luigi Riccardi trained RYAN BEAT (Cowboy Cal) in Race 6 (1700M Class 5) which made it two wins from four starts scoring by three-lengths as the 2.0 favourite.

JEONGMUN KINGDOM (King Socks) was a smart winner of Race 2 (1200M Class 6) leading throughout to score by seven-lengths after 3rd places at each of his previous two runs.

ON FRIDAY AT BUSAN AN EXCELLENT 1200M CLASS 3 CONCLUDED THE CARD AND SUPER AERO made it two wins from as many starts this year with a soft three-length win as the 2.3 favourite for Masa Tanaka and Bart Rice.

Super Aero (Mischieviously) had been one of the top juveniles last year and was only beaten a  nose in the Breeders’ Cup Rookie, the main race for two-year-olds. He missed the Triple Crown earlier this season due to a setback but that may just be a blessing in disguise going forward if his two runs this campaign are anything to go by.

He has come from unpromising rearward positions on each occasion also unlike as a two-year-old when he solely raced on the speed so he is becoming more versatile and should improve up in distance as well. Geuma Eminent, Great Top and Huimang Rani did the chasing whilst the other popular picks included Grand More, 9.6, who weakened to finish 6th after leading, stablemate of the winner Baram Daero, 12.9, who was a never nearer 7^th. Saenae Hunter, 3.4, who had been eye-catching in three runs this year could not lead this time and that seemed to make a huge difference as he dropped out to run a long last. Franco da Silva did however report to stewards that the horse was making a louder than normal breathing sound in the run.

Jin Kyum rode a double on the program which began in Race 1 (1000M Class 6) for the two-year-olds when MUSKET STORM (Musket Man) led throughout to score over 1.7 favourite Special First. Kyum followed up in Race 5 (1800M Class 5) on WIN NOW (Final Boss) which was breaking his maiden at attempt six. His trainer Moon Hyeon-cheol followed up fifty-five minutes later with POWERFUL BATTLE (Testa Matta) who was an outstanding on pace winner of Race 6 (1800M Class 4) in fast time. He started the 4.4 equal favourite on the Korean tote and demolished his rivals by nine-lengths despite being allowed to cruise over the concluding stages.

Park Jae-i rode a race-to-race double as he combined with wife Kim Hye-sun to win Race 3 (1600M Class 5) with GYEONGBOK PORTOS (Power Blade), which was recording back-to-back wins, before following up on 35.0 rank outsider THEMIS (Mischieviously) in Race 4 (1300M Class 5).

O.K. BABY (Old Fashioned) was a smart winner of Race 7 (1400M Class 4) making it three wins from his last four starts with an eight-length success.

This week at Seoul an 1800M Class 2 is the principal contest on Saturday where the Luigi Riccardi trained G B Vault will be looking to overturn his last start odds-on defeat whilst a 1400M Class 1 on Sunday will be the highest graded race of the weekend.

On Friday at Busan the winner of the Luna Stakes (Korean 1000 Guineas) Clearly Winner is entered to make her return following a narrow defeat in The Oaks in May whilst on Sunday a 1400M Class 2 is the main event.