Foreigners in Korea

Djordje Perovic Gets Off The Mark At Seoul

Djordje Perovic has ridden his first winner in South Korea. The 33-year-old partnered Gold Mountain to a 5-length victory in race 6 on the Ttukseom Cup undercard at Seoul Racecourse today.

It was Perovic’s first winner in Seoul and came on his 35th ride in the Korean capital. Crucially, it was one of the first he’d had that had been given much of a chance pre-race.

Perovic has two more rides later in the day and the chance of at least one more winner. His win added to the three second places and a third he’d already managed.

The other two foreign jockeys at the track, Jarred Samuel and Rakesh Bhaugeerothee are still working for their first wins. Hopefully they are not too far away.

Ttukseom Cup D-5: Japan’s Esmeraldina Heads 13 Left In

There are thirteen left in this coming Sunday’s Ttukseom Cup at Seoul Racecourse, the track’s first International Open race. They are headed by Japan-based Esmeraldina, who arrived in Korea last week.

Esmeraldina

Esmeraldina

Esmeraldina’s connections have shrewdly opted to give the ride to Busan-based Japanese jockey Joe Fujii, a man who has won three big Stakes races in the Korean capital before; the Grand Prix Stakes, the Korean Derby and the Jeju Governor’s Cup. The four-year-old Esmeraldina has reportedly settled into Seoul Racecourse very well.

The other Japan-based filly initially entered to run, Robe De Soie, was unable to make the trip after suffering a bleeding attack.

Four are set to travel up from Busan with Heba and New York Blue among them with the rest coming from the home track.

We will have a full preview after final declarations later in the week but in the meantime, here is a run-down of those left in with pedigree (Starts/1st/2nd/3rd) and home track:

Ttukseom Cup (KOR G3) – Seoul Racecourse – 1400M (Fillies & Mares 5yo and down) – June 7, 2015

Cheonnyeon Dongan (KOR) [Ecton Park – Honeycakes (Hennessy)] (22/10/5/3) Seoul
Ua Deungseon (KOR) [Menifee – Singgeureoun (Mr. Adorable)] (13/6/0/1) Seoul
Geumbit Hwanhui (KOR) [Peace Rules – Sincheongchun (Silent Warrior)] (16/5/3/2) Seoul
Joy Lucky (KOR) [Vicar – Proper Gun (Prosper Fager)] (16/10/1/0) Seoul
Esmeraldina (USA) [Harlan’s Holiday – Tasha’s Star (Spanish Steps)] Japan
My Day (KOR) [Touch Gold – Smart Advice (Smart Strike)] (30/11/7/4) Seoul
Bichui Jeongsang (USA) [Wildcat Heir – Persimmon Honey (Colonial Affair)] (12/5/4/0) Seoul
Heba (USA) [Peace Rules – Sue’s Temper (Temperence Hill)] (30/7/5/1) Busan
Halla Chukje (USA) [Gottcha Gold – C D Player (Montbrook)] (19/3/4/1) Seoul
Golden Lass (KOR) [Ecton Park – Golden Eagle (Big Sur)] (12/4/2/3) Busan
Fly Top Queen (USA) [Henny Hughes – Cape Discovery (Cape Town)] (15/7/1/1) Seoul
New York Blue (USA) [Candy Ride – Aim For The Moon (Deputy Minister)] (17/5/7/1) Busan
Ms. Margaux (USA) [Midnight Lute – Sixtyone Margaux (Cozzene)] (17/1/7/7) Busan

Mauritius Jockeys Join Seoul And Busan

Two jockeys from Mauritius have arrived in Korea and are set to begin riding as soon as this coming weekend. Niven Marday will be based at Busan while Rakesh Baugheerothee will be in Seoul.

Niven Marday and Rakesh Bhaugeerothee (Pics: lemauricien.com)

Niven Marday and Rakesh Bhaugeerothee (Pics: lemauricien.com)

Niven Marday gets arguably the easier assignment at Busan where foreign jockeys have tended to enjoy more success. The 25-year-old trained at the South African Jockey Academy and in 2014 rode six winners at Champ De Mars in Mauritius, finishing 19th in the Jockey Championship. He lies in 11th place this year with 3 wins so far.

A couple of months ago, there were no foreign riders at Seoul. South African Jarred Samuel then joined in April and was quickly followed by Italian licensed Serbian jockey Djordje Perovic at the start of this month. Bringing the number to three is Rakesh Bhaugeerothee.

Like Marday, the 38-year-old Baugheerothee also rode six winners in Mauritius last season and has added another one this term.

At Busan, Marday joins the Japanese quartet of Joe Fujii, Nozi Tomzawa, Masa Tanaka and Nobuyuki Oyama.

Remembering Fausto Durso

The Korean racing community was one of several around the world to be saddened to learn of the death of jockey Fausto Durso in Brazil on Saturday.

Fausto Durso: 1974-2015

Fausto Durso: 1974-2015

Durso first came to Korea to ride in the Seoul International Jockey Challenge in August 2013, winning the feature race of the event, the YTN Cup, on Choichoro. He immediately applied for a short-term license, which was approved. He returned to Korea in October that year and rode five more winners during a three-month stay over the winter of 2013-2014.

Having turned professional aged 18 and ridden 700 winners in his native Brazil, Fausto Durso moved to Asia and competed in the 2013 Jockey Challenge as a representative of the Macau Jockey Club.

It was in that jurisdiction where he had his biggest successes, riding 600 winners and winning many of the biggest races as well as twice being crowned champion jockey. Durso also had stints in Dubai, Malaysia and most recently, in Mauritius.

Fausto Durso winning the YTN Cup at Seoul Racecourse in 2013 (Pic: Ross Holburt)

Fausto Durso winning the YTN Cup at Seoul Racecourse in 2013 (Pic: Ross Holburt)

Like many foreign riders who come to Seoul, Durso didn’t get as many opportunities as he would have liked but regularly made the most of what he had to work with, achieving a very high place percentage over his 165 rides.

Fausto Durso is remembered by those who knew him here as being friendly, hard-working and a very talented jockey.

According to local media reports, Durso died following an altercation outside his parents’ house in Senador Firmino. He was 40 years old. Thoughts are with his family and friends.

Djordje Perovic Ready For Seoul Test

Another new foreign jockey has arrived in Korea. Djordje Perovic has been granted a license to ride at Seoul Racecourse from May 1 and looks set to get his first rides next weekend.

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Djordje Perovic, seen here in the JRA, joins Seoul this month (Pic: supplied by jockey)

A native of Serbia, the experienced Perovic is licensed in Italy and has won races in nine countries since debuting as a 17-year-old in 1997. He is a 7-time “Jockey of the Year” in Serbia and holds the distinction of “Best Sportsman of the City of Kragujevac” which isn’t something we can all put on our resume.

Perovic has won Group races in Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia and Austria as well as Jockey Premierships at the San Rossore and Visarno tracks in Italy. Most recently he held a short term JRA license in Japan where he rode three winners.

In total, Perovic arrives in Korea with 827 career wins. He joins Jarred Samuel as the only two foreign jockeys riding at Seoul and it is a tough environment in which to be.

Samuel has been working very hard but is yet to make a breakthrough in the three weekends he’s been riding – he’s ridden in 40 races so far but he’s not been given a single one with any kind of chance.

Perovic knows it’s not going to be easy and is well aware that while several foreign jockeys have had success at Busan, only Ikuyasu Kurakane has truly been able to crack Seoul. He arrived in the Korean capital on Wednesday and has stated he is excited about the challenge. We wish him well.

Here he is in action in Japan:

And here in Italy:

South African Jockey Jarred Samuel Set For Seoul

Two months after Ikuyasu Kurakane returned to Japan, Seoul Racecourse has a new foreign jockey with South African Jarred Samuel taking up a four-month license.

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Jarred Samuel (Picture: Gold Circle)

Samuel, a 27-year-old who was previously based in Durban, has ridden 103 winners since debuting in 2004 and was in Seoul watching the races this past weekend. He is available for rides from this week.

Able to make 50kg weight, Samuel will be looking to get more opportunities than some of the other foreign jockeys who have ridden at Seoul in the past.

Samuel will be the fifth South African jockey to ride regularly in Korea (many others have participated in the Seoul International Jockey Challenge). Chris Taylor and Stephan Swanepoel weren’t given many chances during their times at Seoul several years ago although Martin Wepner and Gerrit Schlechter both fared much better in their stints at Busan.

A huge football fan, he will no doubt fit in well in Korea as his favourite team is Manchester United, although he has pledged to attend some K-League too.

Just two months ago he was featured on a South African TV show:

First Foreign Owners Active At Jeju Sale

Some of the newly licensed foreign owners were active at the Jeju Two-Year-Old sale last week, the first such sale since foreign ownership of racehorses in Korea was approved.

The sale-topping Vicar colt in the ring (Pic: Headline Jeju)

The sale-topping Vicar colt in the ring (Pic: Headline Jeju)

Katsumi Yoshida and Shunsuke Yoshida of Japan’s Northern Farm bought a number of horses. A Sharp Humor colt out of Hongsangeo (Jet Spur) was the most expensive purchase for Katsumi, who will run his horses at Seoul, while a Pico Central colt out of Like A Woman (Rahy) was the standout purchase of Shunsuke, who will race his at Busan.

Macau Jockey Club Chief Executive Thomas Li also snapped up a Sharp Humor colt out of Sharp Eyed (Danzero).

Dr. Joe Dallao was busy too taking home a half-sister to 2008 Ttukseom Cup winner Namchonuijijon. The Whywhywhy filly is out of Intriga (Lord At Law). Other foreign buyers active at the sale were Eric Koh and Shigeo Kadono.

In total, 63 horses were sold in the ring with an average purchase price of KRW 46 Million. The highest priced fetched was KRW 164 Million for a Vicar colt out of Prize Top (Concept Win). That was paid by Nasca, a Korean company who already own 11 horses at Seoul.

Korean racing media last weekend reported that a small number of foreign owners have completed registration for ownership in Korea. They include Barry Irwin of Team Valor and Dr. Kendall Hansen, whose most famous horse, the eponymous Hansen, already stands at stud on Jeju Island. Arthur Inglis of Australia is also among those newly licensed.

Foreign owners will be required to own four Korean bred horses for each foreign bred horse they import to Korea. There is also a restriction on the total number of new foreign bred horses that can join each racecourse in a single year; 160 at Seoul and 120 at Busan.

Cinderella Man Has A Ball At Busan

Cinderella Man added Hangangui Gijeok to his burgeoning list of big name scalps as he secured his second consecutive class 1 victory at Busan this afternoon.

Class 1 Handicap – Busan Racecourse – 1900M – March 22, 2015

1. Cinderella Man (KOR) [Southen Image – Tiza Fast Kat (Tiznow)] – Jo Sung Gon
2. Gandai (KOR) [Don’t Get Mad – Gamble To Victory (Prospectors Gamble)] – Song Keong Yun
3. Chogwang (AUS) [Lion Heart – Colonial Dancer (Pleasant Colony)] – Lee Hee Cheon
Distances: 4 lengths/Neck – 10 ran

Last time it was the Derby and Oaks winner Queens’ Blade, this time it was Hangangui Gijeok who went down to the Pegasus Stable owned and Peter Wolsley trained 4-year-old. Hangangui Gijeok was sent off as the favourite, but giving over 7Kg in the handicap to Cinderella Man was just too much and under Jo Sung Gon, the winner cruised away from the field in the final furlong for a 4-length victory.

Gandai and Chogwang finished together in 2nd and 3rd while Hangangui Gijeok labored home in 4th. suffering just his 4th defeat in 14 career starts to date.

For Cinderella Man it was an 8th win from 11 starts and the icing on yet another glorious day for trainer Peter Wolsley. The Australian saddled the winner of 4 of the 6 races on the card and in doing so, moved back ahead of Kim Young Kwan at the top of the Trainers’ Premiership at Busan.

Often when Wolsley has one of his dominant days, we note how shrewdly his runners have been entered. This time though, he simply had the better horses.

First up was Cheonji Park (Ecton Park) and the colt maintained his unbeaten record with his 4th straight victory in race 2. Macheon Bolt (Old Fashioned) was up next in race 3 and he too duly sauntered to his 4th consecutive victory. Lucky Gangja (Lookin At Lucky) made harder work of things in race 4 but, under a powerful ride by Kim Yong Geun, just got up by a neck for his 3rd win from 6 starts.

Kim Yong Kwan may eventually see off Wolsley in terms of numbers of winners and he will almost certainly saddle more big race winners over the course of the season. However, the perennial champion Trainer is going to be sweating a while longer before he is comfortable.

Rafale Downed As Goliath Marine Wins Again At Busan

Highly rated 3-year-old Rafale slumped to defeat as trainer Peter Wolsley and jockey Jo Sung Gon cleaned-up at Busan on Friday.

While he was always going to be favourite, Rafale (Colors Flying) was sent off at impossibly short-odds for the 1900M class 2 handicap and while he looked well-placed entering the home straight, it was second-favourite Goliath Marine (Volponi) who sprinted away from the field to claim his 3rd win from his last 4 starts. Rafale, who was 2nd in last year’s Seoul Breeders’ Cup and was an easy winner when tried around two-turns for the first time in January, came home 4th.

Goliath Marine was the 4th winner of the day for Australian trainer Peter Wolsley, who returns to the tope of the trainer’s championship as a result. Earlier, he’d sent out Happy Hana (Biwa Shinseiki) to win race 5 and Choedae Gangja (Didyme) to win race 6 before his up and coming import Different Dimension (Into Mischief) landed a 3rd win in 3 career starts in race 10.

Lee Hee Cheon rode Choedae Gangja but the other three were all ridden by Jo Sung Gon and Jo would also get four winners on the day with a perfectly timed ride on Morning Hwiparam (Everydayissaturday) in race 8. Jo showed his quality in the saddle by bringing the gelding from last to first through a crowd of horses in the home straight, stealing victory on the line by the narrowest of noses.

Wolsley wasn’t the only foreign connection at Busan among the winners yesterday. Nozomu Tomizawa rode favourite Daejiui Jilju (Admire Don) to victory in race 3 while his fellow Japanese rider Masa Tanaka scored in race 7 on Triple Nine (Ecton Park). From the Kim Young Kwan stable, Triple Nine has now won three of his four starts to date.

Racing returns to Busan on Sunday when Success Story, Ghost Whisper, Cheonji Bulpae and Gumpo Sky all feature in the main handicap.

Peter Wolsley, Gyeongbudaero and Tough Win Stories of 2015 So Far

We say goodbye to the Year of the horse and enter the Year of the Sheep…or goat or ram or whichever hooved and horned animal it actually is; there is some disagreement in these parts. There is no racing this weekend on account of the holiday, so it’s a good opportunity to take stock of what has happened during the first six weeks of racing:

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Never Seen Before and Lee Hee Cheon win the Minister's Cup. Lee and Peter Wolsley are in great from this year

* Peter Wolsley is on fire: With five winners across last weekend, trainer Peter Wolsley has shot to the top of the Busan Trainers’ Championship, leading the Kim Young Kwan machine by 14 winners to 12 and 49% of all runners placing first or second. Wolsley has some solid talent in his stable at the moment and also a pair of in-form stable jockeys in the shape of champion rider Jo Sung Gon but also with Lee Hee Cheon, who has been an absolute revelation under the Australian’s tutelage over the past few months. Such is the firepower that is always available to him, Kim Young Kwan will amost certainly take the ultimate prize but it looks set fair for another very good season for Wolsley.

This Korean language blog, which I’ve just seen for the first time has some really good pictures of Wolsley and Lee Hee Cheon winning the Minister’s Cup with Never Seen Before last October.

* Tough Win is back: The 2011 Grand Prix Champion’s best days looked to be behind him but he returned to the winner’s circle for the first time for 18 months in January and then followed it up last week with another victory; his 24th from 37 career starts and took him to over $2Million in prize-money. He’s done it in style too, closing from dead-last in the home straight. As long-time racing observer Thomas Song pointed out on this site, closing to defeat tired frontrunners is the only way Tough Win can run these days, but it is thrilling to watch and hopefully there is plenty more to come.

* We have some good three-year-olds: The likes of Cosmos King at Seoul and Rafale and Doraon Hyeonpyo at Busan have all won around two-turns already and they, along with a number of others, should make for a fascinating Triple Crown series which this year, will be concluded by July.

* The new rating system is here to stay: Every horse in Korea now has a rating and aside for some Grade and Listed races, there are no longer races restricted to Korean bred horses at Class 1 and Class 2. It is hoped that the stronger competition will make for a better quality of Korean racehorse and more competitive racing for punters. The early evidence, especially at Busan, is positive. With horses able to move back down in class for the first time, we’ve seen some compelling contests already. Now that connections at Seoul have belatedly signed up to the changes too, racing in the capital – in need of a new lease of life for some seasons – will hopefully be on an upward spiral soon too.

* Gyeongbudaero : If the KRA’s race-planners had scripted the first class 1 to be run under the new system, they would have come up with something like this. Six Korean bred horses faced off against six imported horses and after a tough battle, the locally bred Gyeongbudaero, carrying top weight of 60kg, prevailed. Winner of the 2014 President’s Cup and Grand Prix Stakes, Gyeongbudaero’s image was on the front of the KRA’s 2015 Race Plan booklet announcing the changes and he is undoubtedly the poster-horse of Korean racing right now.

Racing returns next weekend.