The weekend’s action gets underway at Busan on Friday with 8 races from 11:25 to 18:00. Here are the previews:
Busan Race 1: Class 6 (1400M) Special Weight A / KRW 30 Million
(7) BEOLGYOUI HIM has a best of 2nd from six starts so far and enters off a fair 5th at 1200M in March. He has had a tendency to be a bit slow away but there is no early speed in this race so he should be much more forward today, the additional trip can suit, and he is the one to beat. (1) STORM POINT has hinted at ability over his eight tries, albeit not getting any closer than 4th. He did that over this distance, he draws well here and in this small field should be aiming for a career to date best. (3) GWANGPUNG STAR has shown improvement across her latest couple with a 3rd place at 1300M being her latest on April 4th. The slight step up in trip can help and she can match or better that here. (8) CAPTAIN KOREA and (4) DIA MATE are the other place chances.
Selections
(7) Beolgyoui Him (1) Storm Point (3) Gwangpung Star (8) Captain Korea
Next Best
4, 5
Fast Start
3, 6, 7, 8
Busan Race 2: Class 6 (1200M) Special Wright A / KRW 30 Million
Maidens with four of the eleven racing for the first time, but it’s hard to go past (5) JEONGMUN FELIX. After a couple of fair efforts, he was an improved 3rd at this distance on March 21st when on pace throughout. He should be on the speed again here and won’t need to improve much to win in this company. A couple of the debut makers look interesting. (4) SEINE GANG ran 5th in a trial having overcome a wide draw. He gets a great gate on debut here and from on pace can be in this a long way. (9) BIGBANG CLASS beat Seine Gang in a trial, the second time that he showed ability in the morning heats. He doesn’t draw as well, but if he can find a forward position, will be a chance. Returning to the experience, (8) ROAD TO HEUIMANG and (1) FLY GIRL are potential improvers.
Selections
(5) Jeongmun Felix (4) Seine Gang (9) Bigbang Class (8) Road To Heuimang
Next Best
1, 10
Fast Start
1, 4, 5, 9
Busan Race 3: Class 5 (1200M) Handicap / KRW 45 Million
Competitive race. (8) FLYING RACE was a maiden winner two starts back at 1200M and was then sent off as favourite for his first try at this class on April 11th when from a very wide draw he was slow away and only managed to run 8th – although he did beat a couple of today’s rivals. With a better start here, he can be given another chance. (3) IT’S OK ran once last year for a decent 4th and then didn’t reappear until this April 6th. She made an immediate impact, leading every step of the way to score over this distance with plenty in hand and while she comes up in class here, she should strip even fitter, and can measure up. (1) BROWN ROOKIE took a couple of goes to get accustomed to this level but enters off back-to-back 4th places at this distance and she can be a danger here. (6) DOCTOR CITY and (7) VELOCIRAPTOR others who can challenge for the minors.
Selections
(8) Flying Race (3) It’s Ok (1) Brown Rookie (6) Doctor City
Next Best
7, 5
Fast Start
1, 3, 5, 6
Busan Race 4: Class 5 (1300M) Handicap / KRW 45 Million
Fillies (and one mare) only here. (5) YEOSU SUPER STAR was a winner on debut over 1200M on April 11th, racing handy throughout before striking the front just over a furlong out and running on. She comes up in class and slightly in trip, but neither should be a problem, and she can make it two from two here. (2) CHEONHAJIYU ran 2nd in two starts early last year before suffering an injury setback. She finally returned in February, putting in an ordinary run but returned to form on April 4th with another solid 2nd place at 1200M. Third-up she can be peaking fitness wise, and she should be close. (10) MISSOURI CHAMP got her maiden win two starts back and was a good 3rd on her first try at this class on April 11th and she can be in the mix again. (7) SIMON STAR, who needs a line through her latest, along with (3) DOCTOR MATTERS, are other contenders.
Selections
(5) Yeosu Super Star (2) Cheonhajiyu (10) Missouri Champ (7) Simon Star
Next Best
3, 1
Fast Start
2, 5, 6, 11
Busan Race 5: Class 5 (1600M) Handicap / KRW 45 Million
Even as an odds-on chance, FANTASTIC VALUE provided plenty as she eased to victory in the Korean Oaks (1800M KOR-G2) at Busan Racecourse on Sunday afternoon, adding the second jewel of the Triple Tiara to the first that she scored in the Luna Stakes at the end of March.
The wildcard – and perhaps sole interest in the race given Fantastic Value’s Luna superiority – was ONEULDO SMILE, a hitherto unbeaten filly, who travelled down from Seoul with a perfect four-from-four albeit never having raced at further than 1200M.
As expected, Oneuldo Smile was sent to the lead by CC Wong while Seo Seung-un settled Fantastic Value handy and Oneul Smile ended up giving a very good account of herself leading until just over a furlong to go when the favourite came by.
Just as in the Luna, Fantastic Value’s winning margin was five-lengths with Oneuldo Smile managing to hold off Boryeonglightqueen and Lime Tree for an excellent 2nd, the latter pair repeating their Luna finishes of 3rd and 4th respectively.
Fantastic Value [Afleet Express – Union Belle (by Dixie Union)] moves on to five wins from ten starts. Owned by Moojigae Rentcar, she is trained at Busan by Lim Keum-man. She will be the hot favourite to emulate Golden Power in 2022 and Jeulgeounyeojeong in 2023 in claiming all three jewels in the Tiara. The final leg, the Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup (2000M KOR-G3) is at Seoul on Sunday June 8th.
A more interesting prospect as to whether she completes the Tiara, may be the prospect of Fantastic Value facing the likes of Jeulgeounyeojeong in the Queens’ Tour Winter/Fall in the latter part of the year.
Next Sunday it is the turn of the three-year-old colts with KRA Cup Mile winner Oasis Blue the favourite to win the Korean Derby (1800M KOR-G1) at Seoul.
Two out of the past three years have seen a single filly sweep all three legs of the Triple Tiara and on Sunday Fantastic Value can go one step closer to emulating Golden Power in 2022 and Jeulgeounyeojeong in 2023 by winning the Korean Oaks (1800M KOR-G2) at Busan.SEE HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW OF ALL 17 SUNDAY RACES ACROSS SEOUL & BUSAN.
Fantastic Value comprehensively won the Luna Stakes (Pic: KRA)
That the three-year-old Korean bred filly division isn’t a very deep one is reflected in only ten going to face the starter, one of which is a maiden with a rating of just twenty-six. FANTASTIC VALUE had little trouble seeing off her rivals in the opening jewel of the Tiara, the Luna Stakes (1600M KOR-L) at the end of March, when she pulled away in the home straight to win by five-lengths.
With that Luna triumph, the Lim Keum-man trained Fantastic Value moved onto four wins from nine starts and has experience of the 1800M Oaks distance having run 4th over it at class 4 level prior to her Tiara 1st leg score.
All first four home in the Luna return for another go in the Oaks, but the most fascinating runner is a newcomer to the Tiara trail. ONEULDO SMILE debuted as a juvenile last August and won but then got injured and didn’t reappear until this January. She has since won three on the spin, most recently a fourteen-length romp at Class 4 level on March 23rd.
CC Wong rides Oneuldo Smile for the first time and while she has never been further than 1200M, the daughter of Federalist looks an enticing prospect.
1. BORYEONGLIGHTQUEEN – Ran 3rd in the Luna from a wide draw. A winner and runner-up in two tries at 1800M both at class 5 level puts her ahead of most of these. In the frame.
2. TEAM SURPRISE – Yet to win in eleven and that probably won’t change here but does have nine top five finishes. First try at further than 1400M can suit, but minor money chance only.
The Princess will have to wait a little longer as the Queen has no intention of relinquishing her throne. Crown Hamseong led the Ttukseom Cup (1400M KOR-G2), but defending champion Jeulgeounyeojeong, racing for the first time since last November, was too strong, grinding her foe down in the closing stages, and taking victory in the second leg of the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer at Seoul Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.
Jeulgeounyeojeong edges out Crown Hamseong (Pic: KRA)
Gladius, winner of the first leg of the series, the Donga Ilbo Trophy (1800M KOR-Listed) a month ago was sent off as the 2.2 favourite among a crowded field of sixteen ahead of Donga runner-up Crown Hamseong with Jeulgeounyeojeong, who was making her seasonal debut, third in the market.
The favourite was never in it, Gladius taking up a handy position but not at any point looking like threatening. However, Moon Se-young on Crown Hamseong, took the initiative and went straight to the lead while Seo Seung-un and Jeulgeonyeojeong stalked.
They came together in the home straight and Jeulgeounyeojeong ultimately ground down her younger rival, beating Crown Hamseong by a length on the line. Wonderful Slew, Jeulgeounyeojeong’s biggest rival over the last two years, emerged from the pack to claim 3rd. Raon Forest was 4th and favourite Gladius a meek 5th.
Jeulgeounyeojeong was racing for the first time since last November’s Breeders’ Cup Queen (1800M KOR-Listed) when she suffered the worst result of her career and was found to have bled. That resulted in an automatic suspension and the need to complete two trials prior to being able to compete again.
“She is the Queen, right? And that means there is pressure.” Seo Seung-un told in-house broadcaster KRBC. “She bled last time and had five months off. We gave up on the idea of running in the Donga Ilbo last month and as a stable worked to prepare her for 1400M. The gate was wider than we wanted (gate 14) so we had to adjust our plan, but (the plan) came off. She should be in even better shape for (Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer 3rd leg) the KNN Cup.”
Winning trainer Kim Young-kwan – whose very presence on track in Seoul should have been a clue – said he had been confident. “It’s true that I expected to win” he confirmed to KRBC “but there was the layoff, and I was aware that there are some good horses among the newcomers (to the filly and mare ranks). The draw wasn’t good and Seo Seung-un was worried about that.”
Pic: KRA
“The spell at the farm did her good, not just recovering from the bleeding but a chance to fully rest and recover her health and I want to thank the farm (Nasca Farm, belonging to her owners) because she was looked after very well there. My stable staff put in a lot of work too and Seo Seung-un, as always, was very good.”
Moon Se-young, partner of runner-up Crown Hamseong, felt that fatigue and the draw had taken its toll. “I’m disappointed” he told KRBC. “Obviously she had some hard races and then with the draw, it’s the kind of thing you can’t replicate in training, the effort to get across to lead. She got there and she ran well, but ultimately, we just came up short.”
Ruan Maia rode Luigi Riccardi’s Wonderful Slew for the first time and after finishing well back behind the boys in the Herald Business (2000M KOR-G3) on her only previous start this year, she ran a smart 3rd.
“I was worried about the distance because it is too short for (Wonderful Slew) but I trusted in her ability, so I did my best to keep her as close as possible to the pace and she finished very well” Maia explained to KRBC. “Hopefully the next race (KNN Cup) it will be the right distance, and she will have a good chance to win.”
Jeulgeounyeojeong [Colors Flying – Says Ms Elizabeth (by Giacomo)] moves on to thirteen wins from twenty-five starts. The Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer Series concludes at Busan on June 1st with the KNN Cup (1600M KOR-G3). Meanwhile the younger generation of fillies will have their chance to shine next weekend with the Korean Oaks (1800M KOR-G2) at Busan next Sunday.
In the end all parties emerged with heads held high. Global Hit ran out a comfortable five-length winner of the YTN Cup (2000M KOR-G3) sparing any possible blushes for the local contingent, while Japan’s Yumeno Honoo ran with enormous credit, finishing 3rd, just a head behind Speed Young in 2nd on his first time racing outside of Kochi and on an anticlockwise track.
Global Hit successfully defends the YTN Cup (Pic: KRA)
Korean punters certainly respected the visitor, Yumeno Honoo being sent off the 2.3 second favourite to Global Hit’s 1.9, those the only two in the market on a win line. And any doubts about the unfamiliar environment affecting Yumeno Honoo’s starting manners were dispelled when he leapt out on pace and tracked Miracle Marine, who as expected sprung out of gate two and into the lead.
Global Hit meanwhile had to navigate from gate twelve racing handy but wide for much of the early part of the race, with jockey Kim Hye-sun evidently determined not to allow Yumeno Honoo and Hiroto Yoshihara to get the jump on them.
By the time they entered the home straight, Global Hit was straining to be let loose and after Miracle Marine gave way, Global Hit cruised past new leader Yumeno Honoo as well as his stablemate Speed Young and dominated the closing stages. Yumeno Honoo was headed by Speed Young but was a full length and a half clear of Herald Business winner Success Baekpa in 4th.
“I always try to enjoy myself, but I felt pressure until yesterday” winning jockey Kim Hye-sun, for who Global Hit has been a career-defining horse, told in-house broadcaster KRBC. “There is always a lot of expectation and support for Global Hit, but I think it was more intense this time with the Japanese horse here.”
“I know there was some doubt about how he would fare after Dubai, but the result speaks for itself. There were so many variables coming into this race, but we wanted to be on pace and once the gate opened, he began well. I thought (Yumeno Honoo) might go a little faster and I was surprised how well we won by.”
Winning trainer Bang Dong-suk, who also saddled Speed Young to 2nd place, said that Global Hit has benefitted from his Dubai trip. “I think he has grown – or upgraded would be a better word – through his time in Dubai. He returned healthy so was ready for this.”
“I discussed (with jockey Kim Hye-sun) and we decided to go forward as much as possible at the start, like he did in Dubai.”
“Japanese horses are renowned the world over and although (Yumeno Honoo) is from a local racecourse, I had a lot of respect for him. So, I am very happy to win.”
Global Hit and Kim Hye-sun in the YTN Winner’s Circle (Pic: KRA)
Quizzed on what was next for Global Hit – the potential for a rare outing at his home track of Busan in the final leg of the Stayer Series, the Busan Mayor’s Cup (1800M KOR-G2) followed by the KRA Cup Classic in August and then the Korea Cup in September the logical path – the trainer played a straight bat.
“The only thing that determines it is (Global Hit’s) health. We will do our best to help him be fit and healthy and then decide where to go.”
Speed Young’s jockey Park Jae-I (who is married to Kim Hye-sun) also spoke after the race. “I was pleased with how it went, better than I expected. I was wide but I didn’t really have a choice from gate fifteen and I just wanted to get as close as possible. I had hoped for more of a kick at the end, but Global Hit was out of sight.”
“Global Hit is really strong” said Yumeno Honoo’s rider Hiroto Yoshihara. “I was worried about the start, but it all went smoothly, and I was able to settle into 2nd place. Yumeno Honoo gave his best and really the race couldn’t have gone any better.”
Yumeno Honoo flies back to Japan on Monday afternoon, and he goes back having demonstrated that the Kochi form can stand up. It may not be too long until another Japanese visitor tries their luck here with Strike On among the preliminary nominations for the final leg of the Sprint Series on May 18th.
Global Hit moves on to eleven wins from nineteen starts. The Korea Cup will be harder. Fit and healthy, of course.
Next week the attention turns to the filly and mare division with the second leg of the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer (1400M KOR-G2).
It was June of 2015 when an overseas horse last tried their luck in a Korean Open race. Now, almost ten years later, Yumeno Honoo will try to emulate Esmeraldina, who prevailed in her trip to Seoul and the Ttukseom Cup, when he lines up in the YTN Cup (1800M KOR-G3) at Seoul Racecourse next Sunday.
Yumeno Honoo (Pic: KRA International Racing Team)
After Esmeraldina, piloted by Joe Fujii, demolished that Ttukseom Cup field, the feeling – or maybe fear would be a better word – was that Japanese horses would regularly plunder those Korean races that are open to overseas runners. Instead, it has been almost exactly a decade before another has even tried.
The YTN Cup is one of eight Korean races that carry Listed status in the international “Blue Book” and therefore open to eligible runners from overseas. Unlike the invitational Korea Cup and Sprint though, connections are responsible for their own expenses.
While it was rumoured around the turn of the year that some from Japan were considering the Grand Prix Stakes which at a Billion Won in prize money offers some margin for error and a 2300M distance that Japanese stayers will have a huge advantage over, Yumeno Honoo will need to finish in the top two of the 500 Million Won race if he is to even break even for his owner.
So it isn’t about money and the owner has been quite open both on social media and in an interview with Choi Hyeon-seong of Horse Biz, as to why he is here despite having not even travelled to other NAR tracks to take part in bigger local dirt races – essentially he wants to run overseas because the horse, a sensitive type, can spend a week or more at the racecourse to acclimatize first. He was among the preliminary nominations for the Korea Cup last year but had no hope of getting in over high rated JRA horses.
Yumeno Honoo’s record is formidable with eighteen wins from twenty-three starts, including being the first horse in fourteen years to win the Kochi Triple Crown in 2023. His times measure up. He apparently had problems with the gate when younger and has also had manners issues. Whether they will resurface in a new environment is anybody’s guess but he has been participating in gate schooling in his morning work since arriving in Seoul.
Kochi Racecourse is on the local council NAR circuit. Located on Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s five main islands, Kochi prefecture has the third smallest population among Japan’s forty-seven prefectures. Racing is on Saturday and Sunday late afternoon and evenings and is punching above its weight both in terms of wagering and in terms of performance of its horses.
Scheduling on weekends after the main JRA programs have finished surely plays a big part, but Kochi posted record wagering turnover in 2024 and was behind only the Tokyo region tracks of Oi, Kawasaki, Funabashi and Urawa in betting revenues last year.
More significantly from a sporting point of view, Kochi horses have measured up very well when traveling to more competitive races within Japan. Garbo Mambo, who has both beaten and been beaten by Yumeno Honoo, and Shimme Daisy being recent examples.
Japanese racing observers attribute that competitiveness to Kochi horses training and racing on very deep sand and, given that surface, the fast pace of the races. This all sounds very similar to Korea. While the Kochi track is clockwise and tighter than Seoul, there is no reason why Seoul can’t suit Yumeno Honoo more than his home track does.
Trainer Tanaka Mamoru was the leading NAR trainer in 2023 while jockey Yoshihara Hiroto is one of the NAR’s best. Crucially he has Korean experience, having partnered Light Warrior to 4th place in last year’s Korea Cup. He will know all about Global Hit, who finished one place ahead of him and will also be very aware of how the Seoul track races.
Even if connections didn’t have any previous Seoul experience themselves, they have plenty of sources to turn to. Ikuyasu Kurakane, who rode 347 winners in Korea, was based at Kochi in his riding days and is now a trainer there. Ueda Masashi, currently riding at Busan, is also a Kochi jockey and is one of very few riders who has beaten Yumeno Honoo in a race (on Hachikin Musume back in October 2022 when Yumeno Honoo was a juvenile).
In Seoul, Yumeno Honoo looks very well. As a physical specimen his appearance is superior to Sunday’s rivals and in the mornings, he has had his ears pricked and seemingly very much enjoying his work. Those present observed that he is being prepared with exactly the same professionalism and attention to detail as the JRA horses at the Korea Cup and Sprint. He moves over the sand very well and while he has tended to hang out a little on the turns, if this translates to race day – and an actual race – it could be very ominous for the locals.
* Thanks to Joe Fujii and to journalist Yoko Oe, as well as LongBallToNoOne for background information on Kochi and the NAR.
It’s the big one for the three-year-old locally bred division on Sunday as the 2025 Korean Triple Crown gets underway with the KRA Cup Mile (1600M KOR-G2) at Busan and a full field of sixteen – seven from the host track and nine who have travelled down from Seoul – will compete for the first jewel.SEE HERE FOR FULL PREVIEWS OF ALL 17 SUNDAY RACES ACROSS SEOUL AND BUSAN.
Chan Famous and Long Run Bulpae are among the contenders for the KRA Cup Mile (Pic: KRA)
Trainer Baik Kwang-yeol and owner Lee Jong-hun won this race with Betelgeuse in 2023, and the pair arrive with two of the leading fancies in this edition in the shape of OASIS BLUE, who won Busan’s Classic Trial in February, along with BEOLMAUI ANGEL, who boasts the highest rating in the race.
CHAN FAMOUS won Seoul’s Classic Trial and leads the capital’s challenge in Busan in the colours of owner Shum Ho-chun. Plenty though will fancy LONG RUN BULPAE, 2nd in that race, to overturn the form on Chan Famous.
The biggest juvenile race of last season, the Breeders’ Cup Rookie (1400M KOR-G2) was won by 80/1 outsider Aqua Line. He hasn’t raced since and isn’t here while that day’s runner-up Dragon Ninja, is sent to race 5 on Sunday instead. That leaves KHAN MAX, who was 3rd, as the best finisher in that race, who goes here, and he won’t be among the favourites.
Race Shape: (1) LONG RUN BULPAE and (3) BEOLMAUI ANGEL both like to race on pace and both have drawn very well to do so (9) OASIS BLUE has been close to the speed in both his latest successes and while drawn wider this time will not want to be too far away. (11) ELDORADO NOLBU, (12) GANGNARU and (13) CHAN FAMOUS have all shown an ability to come from off the pace and given their wide draws will most likely settle back and seek to close.
Here’s who is taking part in the big race which has a local post time of 16:30 and is race 6 on the card:
1. LONG RUN BULPAE – Three wins up to class 4 and 1200M. 2nd to Chan Famous in the Sports Seoul having been on pace and going down less than a length. Moon Se-young travels down to ride, he can be on pace here and is a chance.
2. WONDERFUL GROOM – Awarded the Listed Gimhae Mayor’s Trophy in the stewards’ room when Oasis Blue was thrown out. Well back in the Gyeongnam Shinmun Classic trial but does have a 2nd place on his only start at this distance. Outsider.
3. BEOLMAUI ANGEL – A winner of four from eight up to class 3 level he has the highest rating of any of these. 4th on first try at a mile last time out having shown on pace throughout. That should stand him in good stead here, he draws beautifully, and he can win. Seo Seung-un is aboard.
4. MY DREAM WAY – Just the one win but has begun this year well with a class 4 2nd and then 3rd in the Gyeongnam Shinmun. Others favoured but looks to be getting better with each run and can settle handy and run on and will have Alan Munro at the controls.
The racing season hits its stride in April with top races in all divisions.
Fair to note just 2 days out from the festival, there are no blossoms out as yet
Kicking things off is the first leg of the 2025 Triple Crown with the KRA Cup Mile (1600M KOR-G2) at Busan on Sunday April 6th. With a week to go twenty colts remained entered with that number to be whittled down to a maximum of sixteen.
The following week, the domestic Road to the Korea Sprint continues at Seoul with the second leg of the Sprint Series, the SBS Sports Sprint (1200M KOR-G3) on April 14th. The first leg in Busan last month was won by Vincero Cavallo and he and the rest of the usual sprinting suspects are set to reassemble in Seoul.
Also on the second weekend of the month, six valuable international trophy exchange races – three at Seoul and three at Busan – will be run.
The highlight of the month may well be the YTN Cup (2000M KOR-G3). The second leg of the Stayer Series on the domestic Road to the Korea Cup should see Global Hit making his return to local racing action following his 3rd place in the Al Maktoum Classic at Meydan.
This year the race is given an added level of intrigue by the entry of Japan-trained Yumeno Honoo. A superstar at his home track of Kochi, Yumeno Honoo is a winner of eighteen races but is yet to travel, even to another NAR track in Japan.
The YTN Cup is one of several Korean races that are Listed in the International Blue Book and open to overseas runners but as open races (rather than invitational like the Korea Cup and Sprint), connections are responsible for their own travel costs which can be prohibitively high. The last overseas horse to take part in such a race was Esmeraldina, who won the Ttukseom Cup in 2015.
It’s the Ttukseom Cup (1400M KOR-G2) that rounds out the April action on Sunday 27th at Seoul, the second leg of the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer.
The first two Saturdays (5th and 13th) of the month will have an amended schedule with the first race at Seoul being 1.25pm and the last at 8pm, due to the annual cherry blossom festival. Race times on Friday and Sunday will remain normal. See https://kra-festival.com/ for more info.
CC Wong rode his second Listed winner in a week as Chan Famous came from a long way back to stake his claim for a spot in the starting gate when the Triple Crown kicks off in April by winning the Sports Seoul Trophy (1400M KOR-L) on Sunday afternoon. At Busan, Oasis Blue did the same, with a comfortable score in the Gyeongnam Shinmun Trophy (1400M KOR-L), the pair of races the respective main Classic trials of the two tracks.
Jockey CC Wong and Trainer Kenny Seo share…a moment (Pic: KRA)
Having debuted nondescriptly last November, Chan Famous won his next two before kicking off his three-year-old campaign with a 4th place at class 4 over this distance. That adequate but by no means amazing record led him to be sent off at 38.1 on the local tote as One Punch Dragon, entering the race on a three-race winning streak, jumped as the favourite.
Another outsider, Silver Rain, set the pace along with the fancied Long Run Bulpae, who entered as the only horse to have raced at class 3 level. Silver Rain would fade in the straight leaving Long Run Bulpae and Lee Dong-ha alone out in front and seemingly home and hosed.
Chan Famous downs Long Run Bulpae (Pic: KRA)
That would be to reckon with Chan Famous as having sat towards the rear of midfield, CC launched his mount and he relentlessly eroded a big deficit in the final furlong, reeling in and passing a tiring Long Run Bulpae to win by just under a length. Best Race was 3rd and Captain P.K., Seoul’s best juvenile of 2024, was 4th.
Chan Famous is by Hansen and out of Intouchable (by Elusive Quality). Trained by Seo Bum-seok, he was a 94 Million Won purchase as a two-year-old by his owner, Hong Kong based Shum Ho Chun.
It was a first big race win in Korea for the owner while for trainer Seo, generally known as “Kenny”, it was another big price success with a young horse – stablemate Aqua Line, won last November’s G2 Breeders’ Cup Rookie at Busan at 80/1, although has been on the sidelines since. For CC Wong, it was a second Korean Listed win in as many weeks with the jockey having taken out the Segye Ilbo Trophy on Crown Hamseong last Sunday.
At Busan, Oasis Blue crossed the line in front for the second time in Listed company, having previously done so in last Octobers Gimhae Mayor’s Trophy. That day he was deemed to have been at fault for an incident early in the race that resulted in a jockey being unseated and under the local rules of racing, he got thrown out.
Since then, he had registered a 3rd place and a win at class 4 level over the Korean Derby distance, but Oasis Blue was dropped back to 1400M to scratch that Listed itch on Sunday. Close all the way under jockey Jin Kyum, taking the lead turning into the straight and once he got in front set about his task well, opening up a big lead and taking the line a full three-lengths to the good over Yongbi Paewang, with My Dream Day in 3rd.
Oasis Blue is by Uncaptured and is out of Saena (by Peace Rules). He is trained by Baik Kwang-yeol and owned by Lee Jong-hun, who has owned the likes of Success Story, Beolmaui Kkum and Beolmaui Star.
The first leg of the 2025 Triple Crown is the KRA Cup Mile (1600M KOR-G2) at Busan on Sunday April 6.
Peter Wolsley has never done emotion at the races, but he almost made an exception after race 3 of the short 6-race program at Busan on Sunday December 29th. Samakui Kkot was the trainer’s 693rd winner in Korea and he knew it would be his last.
It’s an old picture but Peter Wolsley never posed for many – here with Macheon Bolt (Pic: KRA)
“I didn’t give (jockey Lee) Sung-jae any specific instructions” said Wolsley, “but he knew the horse likes to be on pace and he got him there. A few times I thought he was beat, but he kept lifting and Sung-jae got him home.”
It was an energetic ride by the journeyman jockey, a rider who had ridden so many times for Wolsley over the years, and who knew the significance. Lee Sung-jae did not want to lose that race. “It was Sung-jae’s last ride of the day, and he came straight up to us afterwards. I don’t get expressive, I don’t get emotional, but it was good to share that moment with him.”
And it was done. After seventeen years, Peter Wolsley’s career in Korean racing was over. Not by choice, but by remorseless numbers. Those numbers said that he hadn’t shaped up in the past couple of years. Foreign trainers – rightly – get held to a higher standard than the locals, and according to those numbers – debatable – the previous fifteen years were irrelevant.
“I got the official notification by text message just before Christmas that I would be done a week later. Nice after seventeen years, isn’t it?”
Peter Wolsley was the first foreign trainer in Korea. Goodness knows what advert he answered, but he arrived in 2007 and was assigned to Busan Racecourse, then only two years into existence. The KRA’s wish to bring in foreign trainers was not universally shared in the wider Korean racing industry – and probably not even within the entire KRA – and with little plan what to do with him, he was assigned what was known as “the breakdown barn”, essentially the horses nobody else wanted to train.
One of the tractor drivers who harrowed the track spoke some English, so he was seconded to be Wolsley’s interpreter. It wasn’t a promising start. But through patience, horsemanship and not a little stubbornness, Wolsley got some of those unfortunate horses up to standard. And even winning.
An early turning point (and I have written these sentences before) came in late 2008. Wolsley had requested that pacifiers (mesh eye-protectors used to prevent sand getting in the eyes of the horse) be allowed to be fitted during races – a cause also taken up by the first foreign steward Brett Wright – and in October of that year, they were finally approved for use.
Bold Kings wins the 2015 Grand Prix (Pic KRA)
The next month, Wolsley’s mare Gyeongcheonsa became the first racehorse in Korea to run in pacifiers and she duly flew home to win at odds of 19/1. One race later, his colt Khaosan, also sporting the same equipment and starting at similarly attractive odds, came from last to second in the home straight.
Wolsley never looked back – he even got the 90/1 2008 Korean Derby winner Ebony Storm to finally win another race – and a couple of years later, Khaosan would provide the trainer with his first Korean Group race winner. Almost every horse wears pacifiers in races in Korea now.
Peter Wolsley reached one hundred Korean winners in May of 2011 and later the same year the aforementioned Khaosan won the G3 Owners’ Cup – albeit in the Stewards’ room – under a first Korean ride for jockey Nathan Stanley. It took only two more years for the double century to arrive when My Winner won the Gold Circle Trophy, an International Trophy exchange race in September 2013, under Darryll Holland.
The numbers continued to pile up – the winning milestones were so regular I stopped bothering to report them – and in 2014 Wolsley earned a Classic win when Never Seen Before scored at odds of 25/1 in the Minister’s Cup, the final leg of that year’s Triple Crown.
“I really believed he was going to win. All week he had been so good – I walked him around that hill behind the stables at Seoul Racecourse – and he felt amazing. I remember telling you that he would win. You didn’t believe me, I might add.” I didn’t.
“He had to fight, it was a good race, Gumpo Sky was a proper horse, so was Success Story, but Charlie (jockey Lee Hee-cheon) rode him well and he beat them.”
Others behind Never Seen Before included a couple of fillies, Korean Derby winner Queen’s Blade, as well as Winner’s Marine, who went on to foal the great Winner’s Man.
Then in 2015, came Bold Kings. Only debuting as a three-year-old at class 4 level that March, he promptly went unbeaten in six, including at class 1 over 2200M in November which earned him his shot in that year’s Grand Prix Stakes, then the biggest Group 1 of the year and still the season finale.
Bold Kings looked beaten on the turn in the Grand Prix, but he and jockey Jo Sung-gon found a way, shifting inside at the top of the straight, and launching a run. He beat Gumpo Sky by a neck with Clean Up Joy in 3rd and the great Triple Nine in 4th in what is still regarded as the most exciting Grand Prix ever run. It was seven from seven.
“You don’t really think about it at the time but looking back on it, to do that was some achievement. For a three-year-old that never ran at two to debut at the start of the year, run seven times and finish the year unbeaten by winning the 2300M Grand Prix is astonishing, really.”
Bold Kings had some injury setbacks in 2016 and was eventually moved to a different trainer. He was retired at the end of the 2017 season and while registered as a stallion, was reported to have died in 2019.
I ask Wolsley about the jockeys who rode for him, and he mentions Park Geum-man, one of the first to be attached to his barn in the early days, and how proud he was when he won the Korean Derby in 2010, albeit on another trainer’s horse (Cheonnyeon Daero, who by a curious twist of fate, would be the horse demoted in favour of Khaosan in the Owners’ Cup a year later). But he also goes on to talk about feedback and the important relationship between trainer and jockey.
“When you can’t ride them all yourself (Wolsley, in company with most of his fellow foreign trainers here, had to do exactly that for a long time), feedback is so vital to a trainer. Daryll Holland was so good at it. He could ride a horse in the morning and tell you instantly if there is an issue and what we need to do to fix it – it hasn’t surprised me at all that he is making a good go of his training career.”
“Jo Sung-gon was an excellent jockey. In my opinion he was the best of the locals that I worked with in terms of race riding, but what really made him stand out was his feedback. Obviously, he spoke good English, which helped with me, but it wasn’t just that. He had a sense with the horses that made him so valuable to a trainer.”
Jo Sung-gon took his own life in 2019 at the age of 37.
Wolsley’s cellphone wallpaper is of Jo Sung-gon winning the Grand Prix on Bold Kings. “It has been ever since the day we won. I won’t change it.”
As for his owners, Wolsley, like any diplomatic trainer, was hesitant to name names, but when pressed admitted that two stood out: “Park Hee-sang was with me the whole time. While he does love winning – and we had some very good horses together over the years – he loves his horses more. Korea needs more owners like him.”
“And of course, Peter Hill (Pegasus Farm) has been a great supporter.” Like any owner and trainer, they had their ups and downs “but he backed me from the start and to the very end, and I will always be thankful to him.” Samakui Kkot, Wolsley’s final winner, fittingly saluted in the Pegasus green.
Wolsley’s big rival in the training ranks over the years was Kim Young-kwan. “I loved to beat him” he admits “I knew I couldn’t do it over an entire season because he always has so much fire power and so much influence that eventually, he would come out on top. But I used to like saving a few up at the end of the year and then go all out in the first few months of the new year. Build up a big lead. It would drive him mad! Can you imagine the panic?”
Wolsley and fellow Aussie trainer Simon Foster (Pic: Ross Holburt)
He may laugh but the rivalry was real, and there was absolutely no love lost between the pair. With Wolsley spurring him on, Kim Young-kwan transitioned from a tracksuit wearing old style Korean trainer to a suited and booted modern businessman trainer. Both men would probably be horrified by the idea but there is a fair case to be made that without Wolsley, Kim Young-kwan would not have reached the heights that he did, winning races in Dubai and saddling Blue Chipper to 3rd place in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita.
Wolsley too took several of his horses to the Dubai Carnival over the years and won what would prove to be his final Group race in 2021 when Mr. Afleet won the G2 KRA Cup Classic at Seoul.
Wolsley’s final Group win was in the stilted Covid environment (Pic: KRA)
In terms of how these seventeen years ended, while I was skeptical, I had heard rumours that Wolsley was in danger of not being renewed – under the stated (and, it has to be said, ever evolving) criteria for overseas trainers to retain their licenses, he was at risk – and the trainer himself had certainly believed himself to be. He was given the equivalent of a “strike” last year and had reached the age at which Korean trainers are expected to retire. But it was still fast.
“I would have respected it if they had said “look your results the last two seasons haven’t been as good as they were and we think it’s time, how about going up to next June when your visa will be up and retiring with the others? (Kim Young-kwan and Yang Kui-sun are among those other first-generation Busan trainers reaching retirement age in 2025). I might not have liked it but I could have and would have accepted that.”
“After it was done, they invited me into the office, and to be honest I didn’t want to go, but I did, and they gave me a plaque and said they hope I only have good memories. I do have a lot of good memories, but I don’t have any respect for the way it ended. It’s been such a big part of my life that I don’t want to feel any hate – and I don’t to individuals – but it is hard not to.”
“I would have liked to have got to 700 (winners). In the back of my mind, I wondered if I would make it and I was thinking about it last year, I knew it would be tough, and I knew the owners were thinking I might not be here come January, so it was hard to get the two-year-olds in. It wasn’t to be.”
As for the future, Wolsley is still young, trainer-wise, and open to other challenges but for the next few months, he is going to take some time out.
“I am ok with my Korean visa to stay here for six-months so I am going to relax, do a bit of skiing in Japan and go to Sri Lanka for the Australian Test (cricket) matches. And then I will think about what I want to do.”
In assessing Peter Wolsley’s contribution to Korean racing, I think back to a talk given a few years ago by an overseas consultant who was brought over for a few months to examine the training and racing and make recommendations. In the Q&A after her final presentation, she was asked why Busan horses tended to perform better than Seoul horses. Her answer was given without hesitation: “Peter Wolsley. He’s raised the standard there.”
“We’ve seen some things over the years, haven’t we?” Wolsley laughs as we part on a freezing January evening in downtown Seoul. “And stop bowing, I’m not Korean.”
Wolsley has seen far more than I have, and while he might not be Korean, the story of the development of Korean racing over the past two decades is inextricably linked with Peter Wolsley. While all things must end, it will be poorer for his absence.
In numbers
4285 Starts, 693 wins, 521 2nds, 434 3rds for a win rate of 16.2% and a Place Rate of 38.5%
Principal Race Wins:
2011: Owners’ Cup (G3) – Khaosan
2013: Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup (G3) – Secret Whisper
Horse Racing in Korea 