Author: gyongmaman

Weekend Preview

Busan Race Park
Friday November 7: Areumdaun Jilju and Ebony Storm will feature in the big race on a card which begins at 13:00. The last of ten races is at 17:30.

Sunday November 9: A six race card gets underway at 12:20. The main event is the Busan Metropolitan City Race featuring some of Busan’s top overseas bred horses. See below for a full preview. The big race is at 15:20.

Seoul Race Park
Saturday November 8: The first of eleven races is at 11:00 and the last at 17:20. Three more races will be simulcast from Jeju Island. South African jockey Willie Uys makes his Korean debut in race 4.

Sunday November 9: As with Saturday, the first of eleven races is underway at 11:00, however, four simulcast races from Busan means the last is at 17:40. JRA Trophy winner Playing Politics will share top weight with Yodongseong in a cat.2 handicap for foreign bred horses. Meanwhile, Galsaem will be giving at least 3kg to all six rivals in the feature race despite the fact that the six year old mare hasn’t won in eight outings this year.

At present the forecast is for the weekend to be dry, if overcast. Jeju Race Park also holds its usual Saturday and Sunday cards with ten races starting at 12:20 both days.

Uys Debuts Saturday

South African veteran joins Seoul Race Park
The latest overseas jockey to come to Korea will make his debut this Saturday at Seoul Race Park. South African Willie Uys has signed a one year contract and will line up on the three year old Absolute Power in race 4. The forty six year old Uys comes to Korea off the back of a career that has so far yielded just over one thousand winners from just under ten thousand rides. Uys will be the third South African jockey to debut this year. Chris Taylor’s stint at Seoul was short-lived but Deryl Daniels is into his third month at Busan and looks set to be joined by another, Petrus Botha, later this month.

Uys has just the one ride on Saturday and then one more on Sunday when he will partner Eastern Hotshot in race 3.

Golding Heads Metropolitan Field

There’s just a week and a half to go until the President’s Cup, one of the year’s biggest races for older horses at Seoul Race Park where Myeongmun Gamun and Baekpa are expected to renew hostilities. This coming weekend, however, most of the top action will be at Busan Race Park.

On Friday, Korean Derby winner Ebony Storm will face off against the formidable Areumdaun Jilju in a handicap and then on Sunday, thirteen will line up for the Busan Metropolitan City Cup, one of the biggest races of the year open to foreign bred horses. Golding heads the field for the 2000 metre handicap which has a first prize of KRW 142Million. The race is off at 15:20 and will be simulcast to Seoul Race Park. Full list of runners, records, weights and riders:

Busan Metro City Cup (G.III) – Busan Race Park – 2000M – Nov 9, 2008 – 15:20

1. Bugyeong Choegang (AUS) (17/7/4/2) – 55.5kg – Gu Young Jun
2. Gamun Bobae (USA) (19/5/3/4) – 58kg – Chae Gyu Jun
3. Angle Slam (USA) (35/7/6/8) – 54.5kg – Eiki Nishimura
4. Alchan Sonyeo (USA) (52/1/4/8) – 50kg – Kim Myoung Shin
5. Winter Invitation (AUS) (30/3/6/5) – 52.5kg – Jo Chan Hoon
6. Hard Ride (USA) (14/4/2/1) – 52.5kg – Lim Sung Sil
7. Wonder Love (USA) (36/5/9/6) – 57kg – Han Sang Gyu
8. Florida Native (USA) (21/7/3/3) – 54.5kg – Yoo Hyun Myoung
9. King Kephalos (JPN) (9/5/1/1) – 53kg – Jo Chang Wook
10. Golding (USA) (32/15/7/4) – 60kg – Toshio Uchida
11. Oreumak (AUS) (45/5/5/8) – 50kg – Choi Si Dae
12. Dongbang Geona (JPN) (22/9/3/1) – 55.5kg – Kim Eu Su
13. Seonbaljein (JPN) (39/5/7/5) – 53.5kg – Ahn Sun Ho

Moon Passes 100 Wins

Moon Se Young has gone past the 100 winner mark for the season and remains a long way clear at the Jockey’s Championship for 2008 as he bears down on Park Tae Jong’s previous calender year best of 120:

1. Moon Se Young 106
2. Cho Kyoung Ho 80
3. Park Tae Jong 78
4. Choi Beom Hyun 55
5. Ikuyasu Kurakane 42

Park Byoung Yun was the latest of the newly qualified apprentice jockeys to pick up his first winner on Saturday. Of the seven newcomers this year, Lee Sang Hyuk, Park Si Cheon and Kim Cheol Ho have all landed four winners with only Kim Dong Min and Yoo Mi Na, now recovered from injury, yet to score.

1. Lee Sang Hyuk 4/5/2
2. Park Si Cheon 4/3/10
3. Kim Cheol Ho 4/1/2
4. Park Byoung Yun 1/1/9
5. Jo In Kwon 1/1/1
6. Kim Dong Min 0/0/2
7. Yoo Mi Na 0/0/0

Happy Queen Crowned Gyeonggi Champion

Blanket finish to Governor’s Cup / Secret Weapon holds off Machine Gun
Happy Queen won the KRW 106Million first prize by the narrowest of margins in the Gyeonggi-do Governor’s Cup at Seoul Race Park this afternoon. Under Cho Kyoung Ho, the second favourite got up by a nose on the line to take the honours from Night Fever. It was Night Fever who led out of the gate and the Oh Kyoung Hoan ridden outsider maintained her lead in the backstretch ahead of Hera and Gate Way while Happy Queen sat in the middle of the field. As they opened up the sprint, Hera faded as Happy Queen moved up to third a furlong out. Still Night Fever was hanging on, but the line couldn’t come soon enough as Happy Queen came through.

A thrilling race saw favourite Mild Go never feature as Happy Queen scored just her third career victory. However, the three year old hasn’t been out of the money since her third race, ten outings ago, and seems destined to move onto better company. Gate Way repeated her Korean Oaks performace by coming third in a blanket finish with the entire field separated by just a few lengths.

In other races, Secret Weapon did enough to live up to his 1.2 favourite status – but only just. The five year old hit the front of the 2000 metre handicap as they entered the final furlong but Moon Se Young on Machine Gun was in hot pursuit. Machine Gun has been in the best form of his career this autumn and the gelding almost got up to snatch victory. Secret Weapon held on though for his fifth straight win with a neck the distance between them on the line.

Big Sox followed up his second place in October’s JRA Trophy Race by taking victory in a cat 2 handicap. The three year old took his fourth win, half a length ahead of Serendipper. Big Sox was Moon Se Young’s third win of the day following wins on Yeong Jae in race 5 and Baekdu Beonjjeok in race 1. Race 1 was marred by a fatal breakdown by Merry Gold 300 metres out injuring jockey Lee Jun Dong. Ikuyasu Kurakane on Conan was also brought down but both horse and rider were quickly up.

At Busan Race Park, Japanese jockey Eiki Nishimura landed his first victory in Korea with a seven length win on Hyangsan in race 4. Busan’s feature was won by Eodubong, a half length ahead of Storm Rider.

Gyeonggi-do Governor’s Cup – Seoul Race Park – 1800M – Nov. 2, 2008 – 16:40

1. Happy Queen (KOR) [Revere – C. Bop (Aly Dark)] – Cho Kyoung Ho – 2.7
2. Night Fever (KOR) [Concept Win – Sarah’s Boop (Whitesburg)] – Oh Kyoung Hoan – 39.6
3. Gate Way (KOR) [Psychobabble – Rich Emotions (Rizzi)] – Lee Gi Hwoi – 8.8
Distances: Nose/Neck – 14 ran

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL

FULL RESULTS FROM BUSAN

Vicar Love Denies Subsidy

Subsidy must wait / Baekdujeonseol wins / Cheonjikkot first winner for Park
Vicar Love produced a controlled performance to take a comfortable win and make Subsidy wait a little while longer before reaching the Billion Won prize money mark at Seoul Race Park this afternoon. Eight year old Subsidy led the small field into the home straight but Yang Hee Jin knew exactly when to ask Vicar Love for an effort and he breezed past to win with three lengths to spare. Owner’s Association Trophy winner Saerounbisul put in a strong final furlong to finish third. The KRW 15Million prize for second place takes Subsidy up to a career total of KRW 997Million. Meanwhile for the three year old Vicar Love [Vicar – Canberra (Silver Hawk)], it is four straight wins and a total of seven in ten outings.

The feature handicap also went to form as strong favourite Baekdujeonseol scored a one length win. The four year old sat in the middle of the field for much of the 1800 metres as Shocking made the pace. Park Tae Jong brought the favourite into contention as they turned for home and he hit the front at the right time to win from Borkhan and Gamunhuye.

Earlier in the day two of the more promising locally bred two year olds – one a filly and one a colt – met over 1200 metres in race 6. It was the filly who came out on top and in some style as Cheonjikkot bolted out of the gate and continued to go away from the field right until the line. The vanquished colt, hot favourite Gwacheon Jijon, trailed in five lengths back. Cheonjikkot also marked the first career victory of jockey Park Byeon Yun on his 43rd ride.

Although the track had plenty of moisture in it from Friday’s rain, the skies were clear and it was a beautiful crisp autumn day for racing. It is expected to stay dry for tomorrow when the Gyeonggi-do Governor’s Cup takes centre stage with Happy Queen and Mild Go expected to dispute favourite’s status when the race comes under orders at 16:40. Racing begins at Seoul at 11:00am and at Busan at 12:10pm.

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL

Fourteen go in Gyeonggi-do

There will be a full field of fourteen contesting Sunday afternoon’s Gyeonggi-do Cup at Seoul Race Park. The 1800 metre race, named for the province where the Seoul track is located, is a handicap for locally bred category 3 fillies and has a first prize of KRW 106Million. Full list of runners, riders and weights:

Gyeonggi-do Cup – Seoul Race Park – 1800M – Nov. 2, 2008 – 16:40

1. Yosulgongju (17/2/2/3) – 54kg – Moon Jung Kyun
2. Gyeongcheonyeowang (19/2/4/1) – 53.5kg – Yoo Sang Wan
3. Hwanggeumnara (21/1/5/7) – 53.5kg – Nozomu Tomizawa
4. Gayawangbi (19/2/4/2) – 54kg – Kim Hyo Seob
5. Happy Queen (12/2/3/3) – 53.5kg – Cho Kyoung Ho
6. Gate Way (15/3/3/1) – 54kg – Lee Gi Hwoi
7. Seonggongchulbal (10/1/2/2) – 53kg – Lee Jun Cheol
8. Mild Go (11/3/3/0) – 56kg – Moon Se Young
9. Meotjin Segye (10/2/2/2) – 54kg – Ikuyasu Kurakane
10. Night Fever (15/2/2/2) – 53kg – Oh Kyoung Hoan
11. Hera (7/3/1/1) – 54kg – Lee Dong Kuk
12. Gangdonguijumal (18/4/0/2) – 55.5 – Park Tae Jong
13. Dreamer (19/2/2/4) – 54.5 – Shin Hyoung Cheol
14. Wonder Wonder (20/2/5/2) – 56kg – Choi Beom Hyun

As noted below, racing begins at Seoul Race Park at 11:00am on both Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend’s action got underway at Busan Race Park this afternoon, CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS.

Weekend Preview – Winter Schedule Begins

Busan Race Park
Friday October 31: Busan kicks thing off at 13:00 Friday with a ten race card. Feature is a 1600 metre handicap with Annika Queen and Distance Runner topping the weights. Earlier, The Bee Keeper will be looking to get back in form after losing his unbeaten record last time out. He goes over 1600 metres in race 8.

Sunday November 2: Sunday’s six race card gets underway at 12:20. Despite not having won for well over year and not even running since April, the New Zealand bred gelding will be top weight in the big handicap at 16:10

Seoul Race Park
Saturday November 1: Seoul moves onto winter schedules from this weekend and so the first race will start at 11:00am. There are eleven races on Saturday. A small but very well-known field contests the day’s most valuable race. If he wins, Subsidy [Mr. Prospector – Foreign Aid (Danzig)] will break KRW 1Billion in career prize money, but with Saerounbisul, Pocketful of Money, Haengun Daewang, Ul Mountain and Seungyu Sinhwa joined by the exciting three year old Vicar Love, it’s going to be tough.

Sunday November 3: Sunday also sees eleven races with the first at 11:00am. Feature is one of the biggest fillies races of the season, the Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup. A field of 14 will contest the 1800 metre handicap at 16:40 for the KRW 106Million first prize. We’ll have a full list of runners and riders tomorrow. Also on Sunday’s card is a cat 1 handicap which sees Secret Weapon up against Machine Gun over 2000 metres.

Jeju Race Park stages a ten race card on both Saturday and Sunday. First race is off at 12:20 both days. At this stage the weekend weather is predicted to be cool and dry. There is, however, a chance of rain on Friday.

Top Point gets Full Marks Again

Mexicali Blues wins as Supernatural unplaced again / Jilju Hara back in form
Top Point suffered a mild final furlong scare but battled on well to win today’s feature at Seoul Race Park. The filly seemed set for a comfortable win as she led round all four corners of the 2000 etre handicap, but as they entered the straight, Nujindo, under Ikuyasu Kurakane came through to take things up. However, Cho Kyoung Ho was able to rally Top Point to come back and snatch a one length win. Flying Cat was a further four lengths back in third. The win marked Top Points seventh win in her last eight races, the only slip coming last time out against foreign horses.

In today’s battle of foreign horses, it was another filly who came out on top as Mexicali Blues never gave the rest of the field a look-in as she led from start to finish under the lights in race 11. Favourite Last Dance Buddy came in second, four lengths behind, just ahead of Ecton Cat with second-favourite Supernatural back in fourth. It was a fourth win for Mexicali Blues [Golden Missile – Golden Made (Allen’s Prospect)] and her first above sprint distances. Earlier, highly rated Coleraine took his third straight win. The New Zealand bred gelding was never in trouble as he cruised to a length and a half victory over 1400 metres in race 6.

At Busan Race Park, there was a six race card and Sotuh African jockey Deryl Daniels took his second winner of the weekend guiding favourite Khaosan to a length and a half win in race 3. Earlier, in race 2, Japanese bred filly Jilju Hara returned to form after her shock defeat last time out. Once again backed down to 1.2 in the betting, she made no mistake this time over the same distance, cantering to a nine length win. In Busan’s feature, favourite Hwanggeumbit Taeyang took a half length win from second favourite Dangdae Star.

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL

FULL RESULTS FROM BUSAN

Dangdanghan Holds on for Gwacheon Win

Dangdanghan took the feature Gwacheon Citizen Day race with an impressive wire-to-wire victory at Seoul Race Park on Saturday. Kim Dong Kyun took the three year old, fifth in the betting, into the lead out of the stalls opening up a four length lead in the backstretch. Kim Ok Sung brought Arrow Guard out of the pack to challenge Dangdanghan as they approached the third corner and it looked as though Dangdanghan was finished going into the home straight. Kim Dong Kyun found something more from his mount and although challenges emerged from Geumsuni and Wig, the line came just in time for Dangdanghan to hold on for a half length win. The win is the gelding’s sixth in ten starts.

In other races on a day when heavy showers were a feature of the afternoon, Baekjeonmupae was sent off heavy favourite in a 2300 metre handicap. He could only manage second, however, losing a final furlong battle with Fly Queen, the mare giving Kim Hyo Seob his second win of the day. There was a treble for Moon Se Young but Park Tae Jong suffered a bad fall in race 3 .

Promising two year old Clever Money kept up his 100% record in his second race and the three year old Seven Card continued his impressive recent run of form by taking race 8. Under Yoo Seung Wan, Seven Card led from start to finsish but was pushed all the way by the fast finishing Thunder Boy. Australian import Summa Cum Laude finally won at the fourth attempt and there was a dominant win for Suseong Equus, taking race 5 by eight lengths.

FULL RESULTS FROM SEOUL