Defending champion Cho Kyoung Ho holds an eight winner lead over rival Moon Se Young in the 2011 Jockey Championship as racing gets back underway this weekend at Seoul. Meanwhile at Busan, it is Mr Pink, Toshio Uchida, who holds a seven winner lead over Jo Sung Gon.

Cho Kyoung Ho leads at Seoul again

Last year it was suspension that stopped Moon Se Young from taking the crown at Seoul, this year Moon has as ever, spent almost as much time stood down by the stewards as he has on the track and few would bet against Cho taking a second straight crown.

Jung Ki Yong is in third while Jo In Kwen, in only his third year as a professional, makes it into fourth ahead of veteran Park Tae Jong who heads Korea’s all-time winning list.

Toshio Uchida

Down at Busan Uchida, while not quite as dominant as he was in his last stint at the track is nevertheless still the jockey they all have to beat. In Uchida’s absence last year, Jo Sung Gon took the crown.

A few months ago we mentioned that floppy-fringed Jo may wish to try his luck at Seoul and it seems that it may actually happen as Seoul and Busan look set to agree an exchange program.

Seoul bound? Jo Sung Gon

The first two jockeys to volunteer are Jo Sung Gon from Busan and, somewhat surprisingly, championship leader Cho Kyoung Ho at Seoul. The details are not yet agreed but an announcement one way or another is expected soon.

As for foreign riders in Korea, Uchida aside, things are not looking good. Hiro Hamada called time on his Korean spell a month ago which leaves Makoto Noda and Mai Beppu at Seoul and Akane Yamamoto at Busan. All three have one win to their name so far and while they’re not having any problems getting rides, getting on quality is another matter.

Here are the top jockeys from January 1 – July 31, 2011. Name – Winners – Win Percentage – Quinella (1/2) Percentage.

Seoul Race Park

1. Cho Kyoung Ho – 62 – 23.1% – 35.8%
2. Moon Se Young – 54 – 19.0% – 32.4%
3. Jung Ki Yong – 48 – 16.6% – 27.9%
4. Jo In Kwen – 44 – 15.9% – 31.0%
5. Park Tae Jong – 42 – 14.9% – 30.1%
6. Choi Bum Hyun – 35 – 12.3% – 27/1%
7. Shin Hyoung Chul – 26 – 19.3% – 37.8%
8. Moon Jung Kyun – 25 – 6.7% – 13.9%
9. Oh Kyoung Hoan – 23 – 9.5% – 19.4%
10. Jang Chu Youl – 22 – 11.2% – 19.8%

Others:
11. Kim Hae Sun – 15 – 8.4% – 24.2%
49. Makoto Noda – 1 – 1.4% – 7.1%
51. Mai Beppu – 1 – 1.6% – 3.1%

Busan Race Park

1. Toshio Uchida – 54 – 18.7% – 31.8%
2. Jo Sung Gon – 47 – 17.7% – 32.6%
3. Chae Gyu Jun – 36 – 12.9% – 24.3%
4. You Hyun Myoung – 36 – 14.8% – 24.7%
5. Kim Dong Young – 34 – 16.0% – 28.6%

Others:
6. Park Geum Man – 32 – 15.3% – 30.1%
30. Akane Yamamoto – 1 – 4.3% – 8.7%

Japanese rider in hospital after bad fall during race

Japanese jockey Yoshi Aoki suffered a bad fall at Busan this afternoon to bring a premature end to his second spell in Korea. The 34-year-old is in hospital with a punctured lung and a number of broken ribs after being thrown from his mount shortly after the start of race 5.

Yoshi Aoki

Aoki was due to leave Korea at the end of this month as had been riding outside of his native Japan for so long that his license there was about to expire. It was for similar licensing reasons that Toshio Uchida had to cut short his first stint in Korea.

Aoki first arrived in Korea in 2009 for a short stint at Seoul Race Park. Like everyone other foreign rider before and since, he found it hard going in the capital riding just two winners before departing at the end of his three-month license. He made an impression off the track though, memorably interrupting an interview with then Jockey Union President Kim Dong Kyun while wearing a rubber horse’s head during the KRA’s annual “Punters vs Jockeys” Sports Day. He returned to the peninsula in September last year, this time to the more welcoming Busan Race Park, where he has had much better success.

Primarily riding for Australian trainer Peter Wolsley (often on horses bred and owned by Pegasus and Isidore Farms – both Jeju outfits with a heavy foreign influence) he recorded 21 winners from 165 rides. Fittingly, today he won race 4 – the race prior to his fall – on Wolsley and Isidore Farm’s Yehudi Kkot (Yehudi).

With Hitomi Miyashita also leaving Busan this week it leaves Mr Pink, Toshio Uchida as the sole foreign rider at the track. Hiro Hamada and the injured Mai Beppu are at Seoul. Tonight, thoughts are with Yoshi Aoki for as speedy as possible a recovery from what was a very nasty fall and hopes that one day, he may return to Korea.

Hitomi Miyashita has given up her Korean Jockey license to return to her native Japan. The 34-year-old has spent the last 18 months riding at the Busan Race Park. She has cited personal reasons for her departure.

Going: Hitomi Miyashita

Hitomi first rode in Korea in the International Lady Jockey Invitation race on Korean Oaks day in August 2009. She ended up victorious, partnering Ima Firecracker to a narrow victory. She returned to the track full-time in October of that year and quickly became one of the track’s top jockeys.

In her time in Korea, from 660 rides, Hitomi ride 55 winners and 66 seconds for a win strike rate of 8.3% and a quinella rate of 18.3% and a place rate of 29.5% and was very popular among racing fans on the peninsula. She made one appearance at Seoul Race Park in the Grand Prix Stakes in 2009.

Here is her win on Ima Firecracker in the International Lady Jockey Invitational in 2009:

For obvious reasons it’s a touchy subject but a lot of things changed at Busan after the suicide of jockey Park Jin Hee in March 2010. Hitomi was one of the jockeys who, along with fellow visiting riders Martin Wepner and Kunihisa Hirase was put in a very difficult position between the trainers and the local jockey union. The Union, which had not exactly gone out of its way to make foreign riders welcome, now expected them to join them in their battle certain trainers along with the rest of the jockeys. On the other side the trainers union, knowing the difficulties the foreign riders had had with the union, expected them to side with them

The trainers and jockeys eventually came to an understanding with the foreign riders caught in a figurative no-man’s land. Wepner and Hirase quickly left while Hitomi stayed on and continued to try her hardest. It may have been coincidence, but never again though did she find herself on either the quality or quantity of horses she was on before and her strike rate declined accordingly. That she stuck things out and continued to ride winners is a credit to her talent and perseverance.

Hitomi’s departure leaves Busan with no female jockeys compared to five at Seoul and three with the pony racing colony on Jeju Island. Toshio Uchida and Yoshi Aoki continue to fly the flag successfully for Japan at Busan while Hiro Hamada and the currently injured Mai Beppu are at Seoul. There are currently no non-Japanese foreign jockeys in Korea.

We wish Hitomi the best for the next stage of her career.

There was sad news from Busan this week as jockey Han Sang Kyu passed away on Monday. The thirty-two year old never regained consciousness after being involved in a car accident in the city last Thursday.

Han Sang Kyu and Pangpang win the 2009 Korean Oaks (KRA)

Han Sang Kyu turned professional in September 2002, in the same graduating class as, among others, You Hyun Myung, Gu Min Sung and Lee Ae Li. Initially riding at Seoul Race Park, he joined the group of riders relocating to the new track at Busan upon its opening in 2005.

During his career, Han rode 129 winners from 1515 rides. He achieved his first major race win in 2008, when he partnered outsider Wonder Love to victory in that year’s Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup. The following year would see his biggest triumph as on Pangpang, he reeled in and overhauled the odds-on favourite Sangseung Ilro in the final furlong to win the Korean Oaks

Han Sang Kyu: 1978-2010

Han Sang Kyu had recently been appointed retained jockey to trainer Joe Murphy. His first rides for his new employer were set for the day after his accident. As it was, his last day of racing was October 31.

A funeral service was held for Han at the KRA’s Busan auditorium on Wednesday. In attendance were his family including his wife, sister and parents. Well liked in the Korean racing community, many jockeys, trainers and officials from both Busan and Seoul were also there.

Han Sang Kyu was married this spring and is survived by his wife, who is expecting their first child.

Here is his 2009 Oaks win on Pangpang:

Pictures from KRA via Chulgigi

Toshio Uchida Draws a Blank on Korean Return

Ever since he left Korea at the very end of 2008, there have been constant whispers that he might return. First he was only going to be away until the end of Spring – “He’s gone to spend his money, but he’ll be back to get some more”, local jockeys muttered darkly in the Busan weighing room. Weeks turned into months and then a year. Still the speculation continued though and today Toshio Uchida “Mr Pink” – friend of the punters – made his return to Busan Race Park twenty-two months after he left.

No wins today but Mr Pink is back (Pic: KRA)

Veteran Japanese jockey Uchida arrived in Korea in May 2008. He quickly proved himself to be a class act in the saddle; able to judge the pace of a race far more effectively than the local riders – the legacy of nearly thirty years of experience in Japan. He quickly became something of a phenomenon at Busan. Throughout the rest of the year, headlines such as “Uchida Lands Five at Busan” and “Uchida Dominates Busan” became a regular Friday night ritual on this blog.

Despite giving his rivals a four-month head start, he raced away with the 2008 Jockey Title at Busan, scoring a total of 69 winners from 311 mounts. Such was his popularity that when he made his only appearance at Seoul Race Park on Minister’s Cup weekend that autumn, the capital’s punters chanted his name and thronged the paddock ten-deep to get a close up view of the man who had suddenly made them pay attention to the Busan simulcast.

Today Uchida had a quiet day. Debuting in race 4 on Joe Murphy’s Beautiful Bogo, he finished last of nine and didn’t get much closer despite a couple of reasonably well-fancied runners among his five rides; fourth place on Cheonman Yeongung being his only money finish.

Uchida is back in Korea on a short-term license. Punters will hope it’s for the long term. He joins a very strong Japanese contingent at the southern track in the shape of Yoshi Aoki and Hitomi Miyashita.

* In the feature race at Busan today, Winning Perfect was the shock 38/1 victor in the feature race. The three-year old colt held off favourite Triple Sinhwa in the ten-furlong handicap. Racing returns to Busan on Sunday when there are six races from 12:40 to 16:30. Uchida has two rides.

There’s another new Japanese jockey in town, bringing the total number of riders from across the sea to five.

Hirotaka Hamada debuted on Saturday and had six rides over the weekend. His best finish was second place on Aussie bred Seoului Gangja in Saturday’s race 10.

A wet Hiro Hamada returns to scale on Sunday

Hamada has been billed in Seoul as being the “new Nozi” after the popular Nozomu Tomizawa who rode at the track for nearly two years. Like Tomizawa, the thirty three year-old Hamada has done the bulk of his recent riding in Australia with over 100 wins from around 1000 rides in Queensland.

Hamada joins Toshiyuki Katoh and Kunihisa Hirase at Seoul, while Ketsuya Sameshima and Hitomi Miyashita are at Busan.

Like all foreign riders in Korea, Hamada will start out as a freelance jockey and will have to overcome passive hostility from the local jockeys’ union (who incidentally, have a new Chairman) as he seeks to establish himself. The weekend was a good start though and like all foreign riders, he’ll need to convert his opportunities into wins to make it as hard as possible for the local trainers to ignore him.

Best of luck to him.

Four New Jockeys for Seoul while Jo In Kwen and Lee Sang Hyeok Go Free

South African Martin Wepner has left Korea and has been replaced in the Busan jockey ranks by Japanese rider Katsuya Sameshima. The 47 year-old has a professional record of 3,839 wins from 18,337 rides over a career spanning thirty years. Nicknamed “King Shark”, Sameshima arrives with a formidable reputation, with Japanese “twitter” commenter Mitochunagon describing him as “…(riding) horses better than Mr Pink”. That of course being a reference to Toshio “Mr Pink” Uchida who in six dominant months at the track, was loved by punters and loathed by his rivals in equal measure.

Ketsuya Sameshima

Although slightly less prolific, Martin Wepner was similar. In a sixteen month stint at Busan, he recorded 49 winners from 483 mounts, landing some major prizes along the way. Things were never simple with Wepner though. After a breakdown in communication over a pre-Derby dinner he walked away from the ride of Namdo Jeap in the Derby the next day. Shin Hyoung Chul would step in to guide Namdo Jeap to second place while it seemed Wepner was on the way to the airport.

Feeling he had been treated unfairly and possibly recognizing talent, trainer Kim Young Kwan stepped in and offered Wepner the role of stable-jockey which the South African accepted and the two formed a formidable partnership throughout the summer of 2009 culminating in victory for Namdo Jeap in the Minister’s Cup, the final leg of the Korean Triple Crown at Seoul Race Park in October. Their relationship would break down later in the year though and although Wepner kept riding winners both men would, for different reasons, go on to have a sobering time in 2010.

Wepner is expected to return to Malaysia where he rode successfully for a number of years before coming to Korea. Ultimately his time here must be judged a success and proof that jockeys with talent and perseverance can make it in the undoubtedly harsh environment of the Korean weighing room. Here is that win on Namdo Jeap:

With Sameshima joining Hitomi Miyashita at Busan, Kunihisa Hirase has made the unenviable trip up the Gyeongbu Expressway to Seoul. He’s not the only new-boy at the capital track as four graduates from the KRA Jockey academy are making their debuts this month. Lee Kang Seo, Kim Jung Jun, Jang Chu Yeol and Park Jong Mi will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Jo In Kwen and Lee Sang Hyeok, both of whom have recently turned freelance after riding out their apprenticeships.

The quality of newly licensed riders has increased greatly in recent years and hopefully this year’s new recruits will go on to have long, successful and safe careers.

From left: Lee Kang Seo, Kim Jung Jun, Park Jong Mi, Jang Chu Yeol (Picture: KRA)