Author: gyongmaman

Dongbang Rose Wilts As Tamnaseontaek Takes Seoul Victory

After a barren spell of over a year, Tamnaseontaek returned to the winner’s circle at Seoul Race Park this afternoon.

The five-year-old, who competed in the Korean Derby in 2010 and has three Stakes race placings to his name, finally landed a Class 1 race by taking a narrow victory in the feature handicap.

Kim Jeong Jun looks across but Choi Bum Hyun has beaten him on Tamnaseontaek

Symphony Sonata, another who has found the going tough since breaking through to the elite level, was a battling second while former Champion filly Dongbang Rose could only manage third.

Class 1 Handicap – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – Feb 18, 2012

1. Tamnaseontaek (KOR) [War Sone-Every Michelle (Every Intent)] – Choi Bum Hyun – 4.9, 1.8
2. Symphony Sonata (KOR) [E. Dubai-First Violin (Dixieland Band)] – Kim Jeong Jun – 2.9
3. Dongbang Rose (KOR) [Volponi-Night Mary (Strike Gold)] – Choi Won Joon – 2.3

Distances: 0.75 lengths/0,75 lengths. 10 Ran

On Friday at Busan, there was a dominant win in the feature race for 5/1 chance Money Tree (Medallist). The five-year-old mare scored by seven lengths from outsider Sinheung Daejangun and favourite Tough Tiger to record her seventh career victory. It was another big success for Japanese jockey Akane Yamamoto who, for the time being, is the only foreign rider at Busan.

On Sunday the focus is on Seoul where Aussie filly Xicar (Written Tycoon) is set to be favourite for the Segye Ilbo Cup. Meanwhile at Busan, Aussie trainer Peter Wolsley is in with a shout in the feature race as his Secret Whisper (Sea Of Secrets) has strong claims in a seven furlong handicap.

Weekend Preview: Segye Ilbo Cup

Xicar Heads Up And Comers

Stakes action returns to Seoul Race Park this weekend as a full field of foreign-bred fillies and mares contest the Segye Ilbo Cup.

Last year's Segye winner Kkakjaengi went on to win more Stakes races

The race sees a mixture of up and coming fillies along with mares who have reached class 2 level but have never quite managed to break through to the elite level of Korean racing. Last year’s winner Kkakjaengi went to become a multiple Stakes winner.

This year it is Aussie filly Xicar (Written Tycoon) who looks to be the one to beat. The three-year old has three wins and two seconds from her six starts and, with her wins coming at 1300M, 1400M and 1900M is a versatile and promising talent. Also among the up and comers are US filly Mighty Mammy (After Market) and lightly races four-year old Haengun Party (Broken Vow).

See below for a full list of runner and riders but first of all, here’s what’s happening when and where on the peninsula this weekend:

Friday February 17

Busan Race Park: 11 races from 11:30 to 18:00
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 13:30 to 17:30

Saturday February 18

Seoul Race Park: 12 races from 11:00 to 17:20
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 12:20 to 17:20

Sunday February 19

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:00 to 17:50 including the Segye Ilbo Cup at 16:15
Busan Race Park: 8 races from 11:50 to 16:50

Here’s a full list of runners and riders (Name [Pedigree], age, sex, (Runs/1/2/3) – Jockey:

Segye Ilbo Cup – Seoul Race Park – 1400M – Sunday Feb 17, 2011 – 16:15

1. Raonjena (USA) [Flower Alley-One Kid Act (Lemon Drop Kid)] 3 F (8/2/0/3) – Seo Seung Un
2. Blueband Mama (USA) [Purge-Meadow Bryte (Meadowlake)] 4 F (15/2/4/1) – Oh Kyoung Hoan
3. Winner Trophy (USA) [Wildcat Heir-Paintyourwagon (Pioneering)] 4 F (10/1/2/1) – Choi Bum Hyun
4. A Wanted Affair (USA) [Ten Most Wanted-Noble Affair (Melodisk)] 4 F (11/2/2/2) – Mai Beppu
5. Teukbyeolhwanhui (JPN) [White Muzzle-Western Edge (Woodman)] 5 M (22/2/1/5) – Jo In Kwen
6. Rockin Ruler (USA) [Peace Rules-Shar’s Smile (Peaks And Valleys)] 4 F (18/2/1/4) – Park Eul Woon
7. Worincheongang (USA) [Act Of Duty-Silver Path (Silver Buck)] 5 M (19/2/2/0) – Han Sung Youl
8. Wonderday (USA) [El Corredor-Alpine Ice (Forestry)] 3 F (4/2/1/0) – Lee Joon Chel
9. Mighty Mammy (USA) [After Market-Red Lifesaver (Victory Gallop)] 3 F (5/2/2/0) – Shin Hyoung Chul
10. Dangdae Jeonseung (CAN) [Put It Back-Diamond Heirloom (Pembroke)] 3 F (4/1/1/1) – Lee Gi Hweoi
11. Haengun Party (USA) [Broken Vow-Dutch One’s Storm (Stormin Fever)] 4 F (7/3/1/0) – Ham Wan Sik
12. Golden Socks (USA) [Dehere-Final Flag (Northern Flagship)] 4 F (12/1/3/3) – Moon Jung Kyun
13. Fortunata (USA) [Eurosilver-Eleanor’s Song (Seattle Song)] 5 M (23/2/1/4) – Kim Ok Sung
14. Xicar (AUS) [Written Tycoon-Grand Jewel (Brocco)] 3 F (6/3/2/0) – Park Tae Jong

Viva Cat Among The Classic Hopefuls

Viva Cat Impressive at Seoul / Eiki Bows Out with a Winner / Murphy Scores

We’re less than two months away from the KRA Cup Classic, the first leg of the Korean Triple Crown, and while the weather remains cold, things are starting to heat up in the three-year old ranks.

Viva Cat saunters to victory at Seoul this afternoon

While Busan’s Gyeongbudaero (Menifee) remains most people’s early pick for Classic glory, each week others are staking their claim. At Busan on Friday, Good Time (Yehudi) won by a visually impressive nine lengths over a mile but today at Seoul, it was the turn of Viva Cat (Creek Cat) to show why he should be taking the trip down south in early April.

Sent off as favourite against a field containing only older horses, Viva Cat was a comfortable length-and-a-half winner in a fast time over 1700 metres. The colt has now won five of his six starts while Gyeongbudaero has been beaten on both of his attempts at further than seven furlongs, albeit in slightly better company.

With the likes of Jigeum I Sungan (Ingrandire) and Cheoneun (Forest Camp) recording important wins last week, the signs so far are good for this year’s three-year old crop being more competitive than the disappointng one last year.

Down at Busan, hot favourite Tamna Ace (Thunder Gulch) scored a routine victory in the feature handicap to take his record to en wins from fourteen starts. Joe Murphy’s top rated horse Deep Desire (Jump Start) was a disappointing last in that race but there was success earlier for the American trainer as his filly De Bora (Dehere) broke her maiden in race 1.

It was Murphy’s second win of what, given that he only had seven successes in the prvious eighteen months, is looking an ever more promising 2012. Murphy himself ascribes the new positive feeling in his barn to having had an Australian trackwork rider join him in January which has made communication in training much easier. Whatever the reason, his runners are ones to follow over the next few months.

Finally at Busan it was a day of farewells for Japanese rider Eiki Nishimura. The 36-year-old completed his second stint at the track today and bowed out with a winner, partnering 3/1 shot Camilla (Menifee) to victory in race 2. Popular with just about everybody, Eiki scored a total of 13 winners from 109 rides in his four months here.

He previously rode 38 winners during 2009, including winning that year’s KRA Cup Classic on Sangseung Ilro. He will be missed.

* Next weekend, we have Stakes action at Seoul in the shape of the Segye Ilbo Cup for foreign bred fillies and mares. As ever, we’ll have all the build up here on Thursday.

Kim Gui Bae – Rare Visit To The Winner’s Circle Thirty Three Years After His First

Korea’s oldest professional Sportsman – except for a few veteran golfers – was back in the Winner’s Circle at Seoul Race Park today. However, in recent years, winning has been an all too rare experience for veteran jockey Kim Gui Bae.

Winner Again: Kim Gui Bae

Today, partnering 23/1 outsider Haetal (Volponi) in race 8, Kim produced his horse for a late run to sweep past odds-on favourite Something Good (Forest Camp) to score victory by just over a length.

It was the 49 year old’s first win of 2012. He scored seven wins in 2011 and the same number the year before. If past history is anything to go by, he’s unlikely to exceed that figure this year; those two years were his most successful out of the past twenty.

When Kim Gui Bae turned professional as a teenager in April 1979, President Park Chung Hee was in the final year of his authoritarian regime (Park would be assassinated in October that year) and horse racing in Korea was almost a different sport to what it is today. There was no Stud Book, no private ownership of horses and the pari-mutuel odds were still calculated manually for each race.

Kim Gui Bae started his career well and, throughout the 1980’s, was one of the top jockeys at the old Seoul Racecourse at Ttukseom. His biggest win came in 1986 on Po Gyeong Seon [Danseur Etoile-Leonotis (Lionhearted)] as the great New Zealand bred gelding captured his second consecutive Grand Prix Stakes. Kim rode him to six of his twenty career victories.

On that day, the jockey can’t have imagined that twenty-five years later, he would not only still be riding, but also still searching for a second Stakes win. Kim himself points to Seoul Racecourse moving from Ttukseom to Gwacheon in 1989 as being the moment his career changed for the worse. Indeed, he’s only ridden just over fifty winners at the new track over the past 23 years.

Blurry: Korean racing photography wasn't so great back in the days when Kim Gui Bae won the 1986 Grand Prix on Po Gyeong Seon

In an interview for the KRA in 2010, Kim said he never made the adjustment from racing clockwise at Ttukseom to anti-clockwise at Gwacheon. It seems a rather incredible, not to mention disappointing, excuse but the figures certainly agree with him.

Over the years his opportunities have slowly died up as new jockeys come through. When asked why he kept going instead of making more of an effort to pass the trainers’ exam and move into the barn (something which is also likely to be too late now), he simply replied that it is because he “enjoys riding.”

Despite this, Kim Gui Bae is not a jockey that punters avoid (and there are some). He can generally be relied upon to get a horse its best possible finish and its odds don’t drift because he’s riding it. Over his career, his win rate is 8.4% and longevity has made him popular; today he was welcomed back to the winner’s circle by a small group of old-time punters.

Of the current jockeys, only Park Tae Jong, Shin Hyoung Chul and Jung Pyeong Soo also rode at Ttukseom and Kim has at least eight years on all of them. While the newest generation of jockeys are undoubtedly better, there will be those who will be sad when the familiar racing colours of these four (Korean jockeys race in their own colours) disappear from the Korean track forever.

* Today’s feature race was won by second favourite Real Victor (Biwa Shinseiki-Hyunmo), scoring his second class 1 victory of the year.

* Yesterday at Busan, Lion Santa (Lion Heart-Santa Fe Strip) got back to winning ways after losing his unbeaten record at the end of last year. The four-year old US import took a two length win in the feature race and now has ten wins from eleven starts.

Sunday February 12

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:00 to 17:40
Busan Race Park: 8 races from 11:50 to 16:40

Weekend Preview

Lion Santa, Cheonun Head Cards

It’s been another chilly week in what has been the coldest winter anyone in Korea can remember, however, just like last week, temperatures look set to rise up to around the freezing point this weekend meaning there is no better place to spend it than at the racetrack!

It's set for another cold and bright weekend at Seoul

At Busan on Friday, Lion Santa (Lion Heart) is the main attraction. The four-year old, whose connections shunned the Grand Prix Stakes only to see him beaten in what should have been a routine handicap and in the process, lose his unbeaten record on his tenth start. However, he will be favoured to get back to winning ways in the mile-long feature race.

Sunday’s big race on the South Coast is headed by Tamna Ace (Thunder Gulch), who has nine wins from his thirteen career starts. Also on show on Sunday is filly Geumdda (Officer) who, like Lion Santa, shockingly lost her unbeaten record last time out. She’s up against Peter Wolsley’s filly Perfect Jilju (Paradise Creek) who herself has four wins from her last five starts.

Up at Seoul it’s a bit of a low-key weekend but it still should be a fascinating two days of racing. The capital’s feature race is on Saturday as Nonghyup Stakes winner Cheonun (Ft. Stockton) heads a full-field of fourteen going over 1900 metres.

On the Triple Crown trail there are a few promising three-year olds to look out for. At Seoul Viva Cat (Creek Cat) goes in race 9 on Sunday, looking for his fifth win from six starts while down at Busan Good Time (Yehudi) and Predict (The Groom Is Red) both go in race 9 on Friday.

Friday February 10

Busan Race Park: 11 races from 11:30 to 18:00
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 13:30 to 17:30

Saturday February 11

Seoul Race Park: 12 races from 11:00 to 17:20
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 12:20 to 17:20

Sunday February 12

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:10 to 17:40
Busan Race Park: 8 races from 11:50 to 16:40

Heavy Work For Mister Park While Wolsley Trains A Treble

Singgeureounachim, Jigeum I Sungan, Cheoneun All Win At Seoul

Reigning Horse Of The Year Mister Park made his season-debut at Busan Race Park this afternoon and, despite carrying a restrictive 62Kg on his back, galloped to his eighteenth career victory on his twentieth start.

Winners Again: Mister Park and Akane Yamamoto

Punters ignored the fact that Mister Park was becoming the first horse to be assigned the new top weight – two kilos more than the previous high for allowance races – and sent the 2010 Grand Prix winner off as long-odds on favourite.

Coming out of the gate quickly under Japanese jockey Akane Yamamoto, Mister Park latched onto early pacesetter Boulougne and the two led the field by some distance until they entered the home straight.

As Bolougne weakened, there seemed a nervous moment as Mister Park found himself in front and momentarily seemed to go sideways. he recovered, however, to take victory by a length and a half from Hidden Messenger (Al Naba).

It was comfortable enough but Mister Park was slow in the straight and if he faces better horses while carrying this amount of weight, he may be more vulnerable this year.

With Akane riding Mister Park to victory and Eiki Nishimura also amongst the winners, it was a good day for Busan’s foreign contingent. However, the Japanese pair would be eclipsed by trainer Peter Wolsley’s achievements as the Australian sent out three horses – all maidens – and returned with three winners.

Treble: Peter Wolsley (Pic: Herald Media)

The first came in race 1 as Aussie bred gelding No More Ahead (All Bar One) took victory. This was immediately followed by debut-maiing Cheongchun Bulpae (Milwaukee Brew) in race 2 while another first-timer Nuri Geotap (Prime Timber) completed the treble by winning race 5.

Wolsley is well-known for being an expert at placing his horses to give them the best shot of winning within the restrictive Korean racing class system and today was the perfect example of it. His barn now has three more winners in it and it looks set to be another good season for him. Former stable jockey Park Geum Man partnered all three winners.

Up at Seoul, one of last year’s underachievers Singgereounachim (Exploit) made no mistake in the feature race, holding off determined challenges from Mr. Rocky and Andy’s Runner to record a narrow victory. The colt was third in the Korean Derby last year and could be set to finally live up to his potential this year.

Speaking of the Derby, we are exactly two months away from the first Classic of the season. Today, a colt and a filly who are expected to be involved in the KRA Cup Classic down in Busan at the beginning of April, were in action.

Both of them were trying their luck around two turns of the Seoul track for the first time and both of them were successful. First up was the colt, Jigeum I Sungan (Ingrandire). Against a weak field, he was sent off the odds-on favourite and he cruised to an eight length win over 1700 metres.

Cheoneun and Park Tae Jong hold off King Fighting and Jo In Kwen at Seoul

Two races later and a step up in class, things were tougher were Cheoneun (Forest Camp) who went off as the 3/1 second favourite. She put in an impressive performance. Under Park Tae Jong, she made all and held off a strong challenge from favourite King Fighting in the final furlong to claim her fifth win in seven starts.

While she’ll need to get quicker if she’s to compete in the Classics, she’ll be one to watch out for as the road to the Triple Crown starts to really get going in the forthcoming weeks.

Geumbi Gets The Glory At Last

She was a Stakes runner-up on three occasions last year but today at Seoul Race Park, Geumbi was a Class 1 winner at last.

Geumbi and Moon Se Young Return Winners at Seoul

The Segye Ilbo Cup, The Owners’ Trophy and the Gwacheon Mayor’s Cup all ended in second place finishes for Geumbi as she went through 2011 without a win but never being lower than third in her six starts.

She began 2012 finishing fourth to Jumong last month and today was sent off as second favourite in the feature race to the same horse.

However, this time Jumong (Johar) was carrying an extra 3Kg. It proved to be too much for the five-year old. Geumbi (Ecton Park) broke last of the full field of fourteen but, under a perfect ride by Moon Se Young, was kept on the rail throughout and quickened as they entered the home straight before eventually running out as winner by a length and a half from Jewang Tansaeng (Petionville).

This may have been her first win since the autumn of 2010 but it was Geumbi’s fifth triumph from fifteen career starts and she has never been out of the money. A big year could lie ahead.

On the subject of big years, it seems almost certain that Champion jockey Moon Se Young is going to have another one. Although he had to wait until race 7 to get off the mark today, he was in imperious form, winning a further two to take his total for the season to sixteen.

Seungniuihamseong gives Moon Se Young the second of his three wins

As has been mentioned on this blog time and again recently, the standard of riding at Seoul is getting better all the time and Moon is doing his part to make sure the bar the newcomers need to reach is being set higher and higher.

Finally today, a mention for five-year old Seolmaseolma (Sunday Well). She went into today’s final race a 36/1 outsider having failed to triumph in any of her previous twenty-seven starts. The tiny little mare made a mockery of those odds by swooping late to grab her first ever victory by a full length. Sometimes in this game, persistence pays off.

Tomorrow sees attention turn to Busan as the record-breaking Mister Park makes his season debut, carrying a back-busting 62.5Kg in the track’s feature. Meanwhile at Seoul, colt Magnifique will be looking for his fourth straight win in the feature race while Classic hopeful Cheoneun makes her first attempt at the Derby distance of 1800M. It promises to be another fascinating day.

Sunday February 5

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:00 to 17:40
Busan Race Park: 8 races from 11:50 to 16:40

Weekend Preview: Weighty Task For Mister Park

Magnifique, Geumbi, Jumong In Action At Seoul / Mai Beppu Returns

Last season, Mister Park (Ecton Park) broke the record for most consecutive wins in Korean racing history. It was a sensational streak of seventeen straight triumphs which only came to an end by the narrowest of margins at the hands of Tough Win in the season-ending Grand Prix Stakes at Seoul in December.

Heavy Task: Mister Park

On Sunday, the now five-year old Mister Park makes his season debut at Busan in Sunday’s feature race. However, if he’s going to get back to winning ways, he’s going to have to carry jockey Akane Yamamoto, as well as a lot of dead-weight, faster than eleven rivals over 1800M.

This year, the maximum weight for allowance races (which include most Stakes races in Korea) has been upped to 62Kg and Mister Park will carry exactly that amount on Sunday. He should still win, but it’s by no means an easy start to his season.

Akane also rides top sprinter Night Moves (Proud Accolade) in Friday’s Busan sprint feature, a race where Peter Wolsley’s Khaosan(Sunday Well) and Pnata Rhei (Stormy Atlantic) as well as Joe Murphy’s Udeumji(Yehudi) will be among a full field looking to beat her.

The pick of the action at Seoul is on Saturday, where the feature sees Jumong (Johar) go up against double-stakes runner-up Geumbi (Ecton Park). Old favourite and former Grand Prix winner Bally Brae (Yarrow Brae), now ten, joins them.

Sunday sees the late developing Magnifique (Menifee) look for his fourth straight win the feature, Singgeureounachim (Exploit) and Andy’s Runner (The Groom Is Red) also helping make up a competitive field of twelve.

In jockey news, Japanese rider Mai Beppu makes her return to action for the first time in 2012, with twelve mounts across the weekend.

After near record low-temperatures in Korea this week, the weekend is looking a looking a little better but it’s still set to be pretty cold. Start and finish times have been adjusted earlier at all three tracks this weekend and there is an extra race at Busan on both Friday and Sunday. Click here for full cards but here’s what’s happening when and where:

Friday February 3

Busan Race Park: 11 races from 12:00 to 18:00
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 13:30 to 17:30

Saturday February 4

Seoul Race Park: 12 races from 11:00 to 17:20
Jeju Race Park: 9 races from 12:20 to 16:40

Sunday February 5

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:00 to 17:40
Busan Race Park: 8 races from 11:50 to 16:40

Ace Galloper Does His Job

Dangdae Bulpae Beaten / Sad sub-plot to Seoul’s Feature

Four horses came into Sunday’s feature races at Seoul and Busan with high expectations. Only one could live up to them.

Ace Galloper and Park Tae Jong return as winners

At Busan, both Dangdae Bulpae and Jeonseong Sidae found themselves on the wrong end of a blanket finish but at Seoul Ace Galloper came out with his head held high after a battling win which saw champion mare Top Point well beaten.

Dangdae Bulpae (Biwa Shinseiki) hadn’t raced since successfully defending his President’s Cup crown in November and he was sent off the slight favourite ahead of Aussie import Jeonseong Sidae (Stromberg Carlson).

As they entered the home straight it was these two who looked set to battle out the finish. However, they reckoned without a late challenge on the outside from old warrior Yeonseung Daero (Creek Cat) and, even more surprisingly, 21/1 outsider Full Forest (Full Mandate) who ultimately got the decision in a tight five-way finish.

It was a disappointing start to 2012 for Dangdae Bulpae, a horse who was undoubtedly the outstanding Korean bred competitor of last year. For Full Forest, a veteran US bred six-year-old, it was the biggest of six wins from thirty-five career starts.

Up at Seoul, KRA Cup Classic winner Ace Galloper (Chapel Royal) didn’t have things all his own way but ultimately came out on top of a very competitive handicap. Main rival Top Point (Tom Cruiser), the champion mare of 20111 disappointed but Blue Pin (Lion Heart) pushed Ace Galloper all the way to the line, the margin of victory being just a neck on the line.

Ace Galloper and Blue Pin have the kind of connection that only horse racing – for all its joys and all its heartbreaks – can give. Ace Galloper, who is now five-years old, was not an especially impressive two-year-old.

However, in his second start, on July 25, 2009, he finished second – a very distant second – to a horse called Northern Ace. They were racing over five furlongs that day and Northern Ace, a ten-length winner, broke the track record. Tragically, Northern Ace (Didyme) went on to fatally break-down during the Korean Derby in May 2010.

Northern Ace was the first Korean bred foal out of mare Telegraph Road (Royal Academy). Champion Belt, currently one of Busan’s top horses was the second. When she arrived in Korea in early 2006 though, she was in foal to Lion Heart. That foal would be called Blue Pin.

Today we salute Ace Galloper who is a truly a great champion. But we also remember Northern Ace. And all those others whose potential was cruelly taken away.

Too Smart By Far

Smarty Moonhak Beats Dongbanui Gangja By Ten Lengths

He announced his arrival by winning the Turkey Jockey Club Trophy before going on to stun Korean racing fans by not only becoming the first two-year old to run in the Grand Prix Stakes but managing to finish third. Today, just six weeks later, Smarty Moonhak [Smarty Jones-Madeira M’Dear (Black Tie Affair)] was back in the Seoul Race Park winner’s circle.

Smarty Moonhak, with Dongbanui Gangja in the background - this was about as close as the double Grand Prix winner got to him

Despite there being thirteen horses lining up for the 2000M handicap, it was billed as a match-race. Dongbanui Gangja, the two-time Grand Prix Stakes winner and former Horse Of The Year and at seven-years-old, still a formidable contender, against the now three-year old Smarty Moonhak. In the end, it was a mismatch.

After a slow start, Dongbanui Gangja (Broken Vow-Maremaid) came around the field in the back straight to take the lead. At one point he had three lengths on the field but, rounding the home-turn, Smarty Moonhak, shrugging off some bumping like an old pro, was asked to quicken slightly and the gap closed almost immediately.

Another reminder as they entered the home straight and the young colt was away. The distance n the line was ten lengths but it could have been more had jockey Shim Seung Tae decided it was absolutely necessary.

Dongbanui Gangja held on for a comfortable second place while long-shot Wind King (Montjeu) was third.

Smarty Moonhak now moves onto five wins from seven starts and a quarter of a million dollars in the bank. His two losses came in his racecourse debut and in the Grand Prix. Where he goes from here though is open to question. If he stays sound, his handicap mark is likely to quickly rise – he carried 57Kg today – and, just like Dongbanui Gangja and Bally Brae before him, he could find himself essentially eliminated from the handicap division.

While his next couple of appearances will almost certainly be in handicaps, the main focus is going to have to be on the few Stakes and Conditions races that are open to foreign-bred horses. The Busan Metropolitan, the KRA Cup Classic and ultimately of course, the Grand Prix are the most likely targets for this year. In the course of this campaign, he will almost certainly run into Mister Park and Tough Win.

It says something about the impact he has had that just one race into his three-year old season, those two are the only rivals on the peninsula that Smarty Moonhak has unfinished business with. He is, of course, yet to meet two-time President’s Cup winner Dangdae Bulpae but this too is likely to happen. On today’s evidence, they are all likely to suffer the same fate as Dongbanui Gangja

Class 1 Handicap – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – January 28, 2012

1. Smarty Moonhak (USA) [Smarty Jones-Madeira M’Dear (Black Tie Affair)] – Shim Seung Tae – 1.3, 1.0
2. Dongbanui Gangja (USA) [Broken Vow-Maremaid (Storm Bird)] – Moon Se Young – 1.4
3. Wind King (NZ) [Montjeu-Blessing (Sir Tristram)0] – Jo In Kwen – 15.9

Distances: 10 lengths/1.5 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Larrycat (USA) 5. Necromancer (JPN) 6. Celebrate Tonight (USA) 7. Baekjeonmupae (NZ 8. Indian Secret (USA) 9. Out And About (USA) 10. Royal Missile (USA) 11. Mr. Loving Life (USA) 12. Yaho Cat (USA) 13. Adam One (USA)