Author: gyongmaman

Melbourne Cup to be shown live in Korea

There’s a rare treat for Korea based racing fans on Tuesday as the Australia Network Cable Channel will be broadcasting live coverage of the Melbourne Cup from Flemington.

The programme runs from 11:10am to 2pm Korean time and features three races, including the Cup itself at 1pm. The Australia Network can be found on most Digital Cable platforms across Korea but for those without the right package or for those who will be tied to their office desks, it can also be viewed here.

It will be the first live racing to be shown on television in Korea since coverage of domestic cards was banned in July this year. The ban came in to try to stop illegal gaming houses from moving into the gap in the market created by the outlawing of online betting and enforced shutdown of the KRA’s “KNetz” betting platform.

The YTN News Channel managed to get away with broadcasting their own sponsored race (The “YTN Cup”) live during a news bulletin back in August but racing has been absent from screens since then.

Head over to Foolish Pleasure for a full preview of one of the greatest occasions in world racing.

Setbacks and Sports Days

Reverses for Secret Weapon, Bally Brae / Aoki shines in Jockeys Vs Punters

Secret Weapon is Seoul’s top rated Korean bred horse but he suffered a shock defeat on Saturday as SBS Cup winner Hallyu Star bested him over 1900 metres. Secret Weapon is one of the “Po-In-Ma Troika” – “Po-In-Ma” referring to horses foaled in Korea by mares who were pregnant when imported. They are therefore classed as Korean bred but are ineligible for the Triple Crown races as well as some other big races which are restricted to Korean breds, such as this month’s President’s Cup.

The other two members of the “Troika” are Gi Ra Seong and the mare Top Point, ranked third and fourth respectively in the Korean bred rankings. With all three absent from the President’s Cup, the prospect of the great grey Baekgwang completing a remarkable comeback is a real one. Early entries have been announced and Baekgwang heads them along with Seoul’s top three year old Nice Choice. We’ll start the build-up to the race later this week. The winner of the President’s Cup will almost certainly go on to the Grand Prix in December where the “Troika” will most likely all be present.

Looking increasingly doubtful to be present in the Grand Prix is 2007 winner Bally Brae. The seven year old struggled when returning from a three month lay off in September but came back to be sent off odds-on favourite over the Grand Prix distance of 2300 metres on Sunday with a return to the winners’ circle looking on the cards. It wasn’t to be. Park Tae Jong’s saddle slipped as they rounded the first corner and the former champion jockey was left with little control for the rest of the race. That Bally Brae still finished in touch with the field was testament to both horse and rider. Angus Empire took advantage to land the victory.

Bally Brae still has talent and if he was to get into the Grand Prix, a race where he wouldn’t be handicapped out of contention, anything could happen. However, with Myeongmun Gamun and Subsidy now retired and Bally Brae in the twilight of his career, a new generation are likely to be the ones challenging Dongbanui Gangja in December. Unless of course, Baekgwang can pull off somthing very special.

* It was the ninth annual Jockeys Vs Punters Sports Day in the Seoul Race Park infield last week. No idea who won – although Yoo Mi Ra was given the “MVP” award. In any case, as the “sports” included skipping and dodgeball, it probably doesn’t matter. The Chulgigi blog was there and he has some pictures as well as a video.

Watch out for new Japanese jockey Yoshi Aoki who first introduces himself and then procedes to interrupt an interview with Seoul Jockeys’ Union President Kim Dong Kyun. Sadly Aoki doesn’t ask Kim for his organization’s views on foreign jockeys coming to Seoul. Nevertheless, it seems as though everyone enjoyed themselves. The jury is still out on Aoki but he’s had a good start and he certainly seems an interesting – and English speaking – addition to the ranks.

Late Late Bulpae Gisang Wins Metropolitan

Seoul claims victory in Busan Metropolitan / Golden Rose wins Gyeonggi Governor’s
Bulpae Gisang appeared out of nowhere to score victory in the Busan Metropolitan Mayor’s Cup this afternoon. With impeccable timing, Choi Beom Hyun brought the three year old down the outside to come past Yeonseung Daero and Areumdaun Jilju just metres from the line.

Gamadongja and Yeonseung Daero set the early pace with he latter staying on to battle Areumdaun Jilju for what, until Bulpae Gisang’s late run, looked like the win. Coming with Bulpae Gisang was last year’s champion three year old Gaeseon Janggun but he couldn’t match the speed of the US import, who completed the final furlong a full second faster than any of his rivals.

So Seoul finally wins a head to head against Busan – even though places 2-5 were filled by Busan horses (all of them Korean bred) and the last four finishers were all from Seoul. Bulpae Gisang goes on to seven wins from twelve starts.

Busan Metropolitan Mayor’s Cup (KOR. GIII) – Busan Race Park – 2000M – Nov 1, 2009

1. Bulpae Gisang (USA) [Lightnin N Thunder – Neat Trick (Clever Trick)]- Choi Beom Hyun – 2.9, 1.3
2. Yeonseung Daero (KOR) [Creek Cat – Sensationalkris (Cryptoclearance)] – Park Geum Man – 2.4
3. Areumdaun Jilju (KOR) [Didyme – Chills Of Nepal (Nepal)] – Hitomi Miyashita – 1.9
Distances: 1 length/0.5 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Gaseon Janggun; 5. Yeongung Manse; 6. Saerounbisul; 7. Luna; 8. Gamadongja; 9. Angle Slam; 10. Hardride; 11. Saerounachim; 12. Tiffanyuikkum; 13. Vicar Love; 14. Balbora

It wasn’t just Busan that had big race action this afternoon. At Seoul it was the fillies who were in action in the Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup – named for the province in which the Seoul Racecourse is located.

It wasn’t much of a contest as favourite Golden Rose went away quickly as was never caught – the three year old cruising away from the field for a nine length win under Han Sung Yeol. In doing so, she gave new trainer Kim Hyo Seob his first big race win.

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL

FULL RESULTS FROM BUSAN

Weekend Preview

The Busan Mayor’s Cup headlines a weekend which also sees the Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup at Seoul on Sunday, while a number of big name horses make appearances across the weekend.

Seoul Vs Busan Part 5 takes centre stage at Busan while up and coming fillies will run for the valuable Gyeonggi Cup at Seoul. Meanwhile, the likes of Bally Brae, Angus Empire, Namchonuijijon and Machine Gun will be in action.

Busan Race Park

Friday October 30: 10 races, first post 13:00, last 17:30
Sunday November 1: 6 races, first post 12:40, last 16:30

Seoul Race Park

Saturday October 31: 12 races. first post 11:20, last 17:50
Sunday November 1: 11 races, first post 11:20, last 18:10

Jeju Race Park (Pony Racing)

Saturday October 31: 10 races, first post 12:10, last 17:20
Sunday November 1: 10 races, first post 12:10, last 17:10

It’s Busan Vs Seoul as Hardride Defends Cup

Six head down to try to break Busan’s domination
It’s Busan vs Seoul part 5, but this time it’s different. While up until now, only the three year old classics have been contested by horses from both tracks, this coming Sunday, six older overseas bred horseswill travel to Busan for the first Group 3 Busan Mayor’s Cup. Eight will be waiting for them from the home team, among them a mixture of the Busan’s top imports as well as its home bred stars.

Hardride is back to defend his title from last year but it’s the Korean bred runners who provide most of the interest from the Busan side. Areumdaun Jilju and Gaeseon Janggun will get another crack at Yeongung Manse, who surprised both of them in last month’s Governor’s Cup, while three year old Yeonsung Daero has another tilt at glory after failing in the classics.

Vicar Love, Saerounbisul and Bulpae Gisang head the Seoul contingent who will be looking to regain some pride for the capital track. In clashes between the two, Busan leads 8-0. Will things change on Sunday? We’ll find out when they go to post for the ten furlong race at 3:40pm.

Let’s have a look at the runners and riders.

Busan Mayor’s Cup (KOR. G.III) – Busan Race Park – 2000M – Nov 1, 2009 – 15:40

1. Saerounachim (NZ) [Pyrus – Jouet (Langfuhr)] (18/2/5/3) – Seoul – Shim Seung Tae
Second in the JRA Trophy, it’s hard to argue that he’s come along for any other reason then to keep stablemate Saerounbisul company.
2. Yeongung Manse (KOR) [Sharp Appeal – Saratogasplash (Wild Again)] (17/9/3/2) – Jo Chang Wook
Pulled off a stunning win over Areumdaun Jilju and Gaeseon Janggun last month in what was billed as a match race between the track’s top two stars. Not to be ignored.
3. Tiffanyuikkum (AUS) [Iglesia – Blue Lady (Western Symphony)] (18/5/1/2) – Seoul – Shin Dae Jun
Three out of his last four runs have been dreadful. Unproven at the top level, will his best form return?
4. Gamadongja (NZ) [Howbaddouwantit – Miss Martha (Iades)] (23/9/3/4) – Seoul – Stephan Swanepoel
Likely to set the early pace, Gamadongja is a sprinter but consistantly places at the longer distances.
5. Balbora (NZ) [Keeper – Deutzia (Chem)] (21/3/0/3) – Seoul – Bang Choon Sik
Hasn’t finished in the money this year. Perhaps his connections know something we don’t.
6. Saerounbisul (NZ) [Danske – Miss Golly (Casual Lies)] (25/6/4/4) – Seoul – Martin Wepner
Finished in the money on all but one of his last twenty-three races, the five year old won the Seoul Owners’ Cup last year and must be respected.
7. Bulpae Gisang (USA) [Lightnin N Thunder – Neat Trick (Clever Trick)] (11/6/2/0) – Seoul – Choi Beom Hyun
Won on his first attempt at class 1 and has two solid second places since. Choi Beom Hyun accompanies him down from Seoul.
8. Angle Slam (USA) [Gold Case – Platinum Code (Lost Code)] (42/8/7/8) – Han Sang Gyu
Like Gamadongja, he excels at shorter distances – he may contest the minor placings but a win would be a shock.
9. Vicar Love (USA) [Vicar – Canberra (Silver Hawk)] (17/9/1/3) – Seoul – Oh Kyoung Hoan
One of the top three year olds of last season, he’s back in form with a good win last time out.
10. Hardride (USA) [Colony Light – Lametta (Lomond)] (24/6/5/2) – Chae Gyu Jun
Winner of this race last year, he’s not in quite the same form as he was a year ago but can’t be ruled out.
11. Gaeseon Janggun (KOR) [Duality – Diamond Star (Dixieland Band)] (16/8/4/1) Jo Sung Gon
Last year’s champion Korean bred three year old has won four of his five outings this term, his only defeat being to Yeongung Manse last month. A real contender.
12. Luna (KOR) [Concept Win – Wu Su Hae (Exactly Sharp)] (31/12/5/2) – Eiki Nishimura
The only female in the race, the seven year old mare is a Busan stalwart. The 2007 KRA Cup Mile is the highlight of her career to date but she also pulled off a shock win in last year’s Owners’ Cup.
13. Areumdaun Jilju (KOR) [Didyme – Chills Of Nepal (Nepal)] (21/14/3/1) – Lim Sung Sil
Always in the money and usually in the winners’ circle. His defeat last time was a shock but Lim Sung Sil retains the ride and he will be in the mix at the end.
14. Yeonseung Daero (KOR) [Creek Cat – Sensationalkris (Cryptoclearance)] (15/8/1/2) – Park Geum Man
A disappointment in the classics, he’s the “nearly colt” of this year’s three year old group. Has always finisined in the money.

It’s nice but…

….What about that “Internationalization”?

The KRA’s new homepage was unveiled at midnight last night at www.kra.co.kr. And it is as impressive as you would expect complete with pretty graphical representations of the tracks and plenty of laptop crashing animations.

New KRA Homepage

KRA's new homepage

The race card layout has been much improved and overall it gets a thumbs-up. There’s just one issue at the moment: As far as can be made out, there’s no link at all to the English section of the website!

Pari-Mutuel Machines Learning English

Arriving early at Seoul Race Park on Saturday morning, Gyongmaman was surprised to be accosted by KRA officials outside the Foreigner Lounge on the fourth floor of the Luckyville grandstand. Nursing a hangover and fearing that last Monday’s article about the Karaoke expense claims had hit a little too close to the mark, Gyongmaman broke into a sweat and started looking for the exit.

It transpired that they wanted him to try out a new English language betting terminal. The fourth floor of both grandstands at Seoul (and most of Busan) is entirely automated with machines instead of tellers at all the betting windows. Gyongmaman doesn’t like this – if he’s watching from the fourth floor, he always goes down to the third to bet with one of the armada of women (they are all women) staffing the regular betting windows whom the KRA is hoping to replace with the soulless – and non wage demanding – machines.

Naturally, in the face of officaldom, Gyongmaman was suitably gushing about the brilliance of the proposed new machines. And in fariness, they look very promising. Currently the machines only have Korean instructions and though easy to use, they can deter first-timers. Not only will the new machines accept bets, they will also provide searchable information on the racecard and give results from all three tracks.

End of writing in the third-person. The “Foreigner Lounge” at Seoul Race Park is located on the fourth floor of the Luckyville grandstand and looks out over the furlong marker. With a capacity of approximately 120, it provides an English Language Race Program and “how to” leaflets and once you sign in on arrival, you have a reserved seat for the rest of the day (first come, first served). English and Japanese speaking staff are also on hand to assist. While quiet on Saturdays, it tends to get very busy on summer Sundays and no visitor to the track should spend all their time in there – there’s so much else to see, but it is an extremely useful facility.

One final question the officials had was how could the betting process be made easier for overseas visitors. In truth, betting at the track in Korea is as simple and logical as it could possibly be. The only imprevements that could be made are ones that the regulator won’t allow the KRA to do. But that is another story.

Another Jockey Busted

For the third time in the past year, a jockey has been referred to the police for allegedly trading “insider information”. This time its a Seoul jockey who has supposedly been passing on information, including illicit training videos, to illegal betting rings.

As the case has now been handed over to the police, the jockey in question can only be identified by his initial “L”. Before this development, the suspension of said jockey – and the reason why – was news on the KRA’s website last week but it has now been removed.

Nevertheless, simply scanning the list of current suspensions at Seoul will satisfy those of a curious mind. Two jockeys with the initial “L” were suspended this weekend. It’s not Lee Ae Li, she’ll be back next week. The other one won’t be.

“L” is the third jockey this year to become embroiled in such an affair. Seoul rider Park Soo Hong was warned off for life while a Busan based jockey is currently suspended pending further investigation.

Seonbongbulpae Strolls On

Gi Ra Seong makes it four / Eden notches first winner
Yesterday at Seoul, Ace Galloper sent out a warning to the rest of the two year old division. Today it was the turn of Seonbongbulpae to respond as he too stepped up to class 4. Respond he did, strolling into the lead as the fourteen strong field turned for home and coming away from the field to win by a relaxed ten lengths.

In Ace Galloper, Seonbongbulpae and Nothern Ace, Seoul has three very exciting two year olds. Ace Galloper has been beaten – once by Nothern Ace, but that was over five furlongs and it seems he is getting better as the distances get longer. As for Seonbongbulpae and Nothern Ace, they have yet to be challenged.

The Herald Business Cup, Seoul’s Juvenile Championship decider is set for December 6th. If all three stay fit, it promises to be a race to savour. With the two year old picture down at Busan yet to reveal any real potential stars, for the moment at least, Seoul can look forward to next year’s Classic trail.

In the afternoon’s feature event, Gi Ra Seong continued his impressive recent run of form. The favourite led from wire to wire to hold off Badajebi by a length at the end of the 1900 metre handicap. Five year old Gi Ra Seong has now won four on the spin.

At Busan there was a first win for Hong Kong jockey Eden Hok Lai Cheung. Cheung debuted on Friday with one ride which was unplaced but in his only mount today, he managed to guide 50/1 outsider Gilsan to a surprise victory in race 5. On another good day for foreign riders at the southern track, both Martin Wepner and Hitomi Miyashita were also in the Winners’ Circle during the afternoon although Hitomi also managed to pick up a one day suspension.

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL

FULL RESULTS FROM BUSAN

Aurora Shines

Aurora landed the title of Champion Juvenile filly in a hard fought Gwacheon Mayor’s Cup at Seoul Race Park this afternoon. Under Hwang Soon Do, the Tahamkke filly beat off Hushtilled by four lengths to take Seoul’s top two year old filly race.

Pre-race favourites Oh My Sun and Saeroungamun finished last and second last respectively as Choegouisungan made the early running before Aurora came by with a furlong and a half remaining. The previously unbeaten Choegouisungan held on for third.

Two year olds were the stars of the day. Another filly, Thunder Woman, came through a little late to be in the running for the Gwacheon race, but she had little difficulty in dispatching a predominantly older field in race 5 for her second straight win.

If Ace Galloper hadn’t come up against Nothern Ace when the latter broke the track record at five furlongs,he would almost certainly be talked about as a possible Derby horse for next year. Today he put in his third routine win in a row, moving up in class and continuing his preparation for a likely shot at Nothern Ace and Seonbongbulpae in the Herald Media Cup in December.

Ten lengths was the margin on the line but it could have been whatever distance jockey Shim Seung Tae cared to make it. His more illustrious two year old counterparts have yet to try their luck against class 4 opposition – Ace Galloper has already demolished them.

Also on an eventful day, Japanese jockey Yoshiyuki Aoki made his Korean debut. And it was a winning one for the 33 year old – the first former JRA rider to take up a licence in Korea. After failing to palce with his early mounts, Aoki took the moderately fancied Namchonui Yeowang to victory in race 9.

Aurora Takes 2 y/o filly title

Aurora Takes 2 y/o filly title

Gwacheon Citizens’ Day Cup – Seoul Race Park – 1200M – Oct 24, 2009

1. Aurora (KOR) [Tahamkke – Southern Splendour (Southern Halo)] – Hwang Soon Do – 7.1, 2.1
2. Hushtilled (KOR) [Distiiled – Miss Alwuhush (Alwuhush)] – Jo In Kwen – 2.8
3. Choegouisungan (KOR) [Creek Cat – Right Out Ro (Grand Slam)] – Shin, HC) 2.9
Distances: 4 lengths/1.75 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Secret Woman; 5. Cheongsando; 6. White Volpony; 7. Bigsister; 8. Khanuiyeowang; 9. Oh My Sun; 10. Saeroungamun

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL