The exploits of Ikuyasu Kurakane, who was recently named Seoul Racecourse Jockey of the Year, have now earned him recognition in his home country with the Japanese rider set to receive a “Special Award” at the upcoming NAR Grand Prix in Tokyo on February 5.
Ikuyasu is becoming accustomed to receiving prizes (Pic: Hiromi Kobayashi)
Although he didn’t win the Seoul Jockey Championship, Ikuyasu rode 102 winners in 2014 including his first Korean Group win, which came on Samjeong Jewang in the KRA Cup Classic in October. That, combined with the fact that he had achieved his total with significantly less quality rides at his disposal than his rivals, was enough for the Korean poll to go his way.
Now that news has reached Japan. The Special Award generally goes to a rider who has reached a particular milestone in his or her carrer but it is unusual for the NAR to grant such an award for a Jockey’s performance overseas. Previous winners include one-time Busan based Hitomi Miyashita, who was recognized on her retirement in 2011.
Kurakane, who’s home track is the NAR’s Kochi Racecourse, is currently in his second stint in Korea, having previously ridden at Seoul and Busan between 2007 and 2008.
Taking both times into consideration, he has 285 winners from 2293 rides in Korea. Remarkably, it is a record that puts him 11th on the all-time leading jockey list at Seoul Racecourse.
The foreign contingent at Busan made a good start to 2015 with Aussie trainer Peter Wolsley saddling two winners and Japanese jockey Joe Fujii riding two at the first race meeting of the year in Korea.
It was Wolsley who got on the board first, sending out highly thought of colt Macheon Bolt (Old Fashioned) to break his maiden at the second attempt by a full 12-lengths in race 2 under stable jockey Lee Hee Cheon.
Fujii quickly followed by getting his first winner of 2015 when hot-favourite Wonderful Star (Northern Afleet) cruised to race 4. His next was from a more unlikely source though as he guided 66/1 chance Cheonji Hero (Volponi) to a surprise win in race 8.
Wolsley’s double also came from an unlikely source as Goliath Marine (Volponi), up in class following a very good win just two weeks ago, beat off the challenge of Jungang Haeju in the final furlong to take a 12/1 victory.
Masa Tanaka had a more mixed day. After partnering Best Myeongun to an extremely creditable 2nd place in race 10, he was then thrown from favourite Dowon Gyeolui in the gate prior to race 12, an event that in his absence saw US import Owen’s Fortune (J Be K) land his 4th consecutive win. Despite the fall, Tanaka was able to complete his later riding engagements.
Fujii and Tanaka will be back at Busan on Sunday. Today though the attention shifts to Seoul with a bumper 15-race card.
The ups and downs of racing were starkly demonstrated by Nobuyuki Oyama on the final weekend of the season. The Japanese rider notched his first Korean winner at Busan on Friday before suffering a nasty fall in trackwork the following morning which looks set to rule him out for at least a month.
Nobuyuiki Oyama at Busan last Friday (Picture: Hiromi Kobayashi)
Oyama, who is married to former Busan jockey Hitomi Miyashita, joined the track at the beginning of December and despite coming close on several occasions, hadn’t made the breakthrough until Friday.
That changed in the last race of the day, the feature class 1 handicap when Oyama guided 4-year-old Heba to victory over a very competitive field that included well-known names such as Gamdonguibada and New York Blue.
It was a 7th career win for Heba (Peace Rules) and looked to be a win that could kick-start Oyama’s time at Busan. Unfortunately that is going to have to put on hold for now after the 46-year-old suffered a leg injury in trackwork the next day.
Ikuyasu Kurakane has been named Seoul Racecourse Jockey of the Year and the Japanese rider celebrated in style on Saturday by riding a treble to become the first ever foreign rider in Korea to claim 100 winners in a season.
Ikuyasu Kurakane after riding his 100th winner this year at Seoul (Picture: Hiromi Kobayashi)
While Moon Se Young was crowned champion with an out of sight 162 winners (which won’t be added to after he was slapped with an 8-day ban by stewards last weekend), it was Kurakane – who gets nothing like the pick of the rides Moon does – who was adjudged to be most desrving of the award.
And the hardest-working jockey in Korea – riding 8-lots each morning is the norm for Kurakane – has certainly had a great year. A clear second in the Jockey Championship, he began Saturday on 98 winners. He was soon on 101.
Yeoui King takes Ikuyasu Kurakane to winner 99 of the year (Picture: Hiromi Kobayashi)
He took race 3 on 11/1 chance Yeoui King (Admire Don) to move to 99, before completing his ton an hour later as 5/1 Grand Bleu (Peace Rules) did the business in race 4. The best was yet to come though as he threaded his way through a crowded field to steer 16/1 chance Queen Pico (Pico Central) to an unlikely win in race 5.
It’s a year that saw Ikuyasu win the KRA Cup Classic on Samjeong Jewang but the majority of his wins come at the less glamorous end of racing here. Hard work has certainly paid off and he is in great demand among Owners and extremely popular among punters.
They will be hoping that the 39-year-old isn’t quite done in Korea yet.
Cho Kyoung Ho, one of the top Korean jockeys of the past decade, has retired. The 38-year-old’s current license expired on December 7 and he opted not to apply for renewal.
Tough Win and Cho Kyoung Ho win the Grand Prix Stakes in 2011 (KRA)
Debuting in 2001 at the rather advanced age of 25, as was common for Korean jockeys at that time, Cho quickly became one of the top riders on the peninsula. His first Stakes win came in the 2003 JRA Trophy on Tempest West and he would partner the same horse to victory in the Grand Prix Stakes later in the year.
He would win the President’s Cup, Korea’s richest race, on four occasions with back-to-back wins on Myeongmun Gamun in 2007 and 2008 a highlight but it is for his partnership with Tough Win that Cho Kyoung Ho will perhaps be best remembered for. Together they won the Busan Metropolitan City Stakes twice – three years apart – as well as the KRA Cup Classic and the Grand Prix Stakes.
Although in recent times, he had dramatically cut back on his riding commitments, Cho was still in the Stakes winner’s circle as recently as June this year when he guided Geumseongi to victory in the Sports Chosun Cup.
Cho Kyoung Ho retires with career figures of 827 wins from 4964 rides including 29 Stakes race wins, six of which were in Korean Group 1 races.
In what is great news for punters but less so for local jockeys, Joe Fujii is set to return to race riding this week having been passed fit after five months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury suffered in a nasty fall in early July.
Joe Fujii on Magic Dancer – he’ll ride him in the Grand Prix Stakes
Fujii fell from gelding Hybrid in race 4 on July 6 and while initially it was hoped that he would only be out for up to three months, surgery and a long period of recuperation was required.
Despite being out for half the season, Fujii still lies in 7th place in the Busan Jockey Championship. Since coming to Korea in 2012, he has won a host of big races including the Korean Derby, the Oaks and the Grand Prix Stakes. He’s already booked to ride Magic Dancer in this year’s event at Seoul Racecourse on December 14.
Fujii displays the pins that had just been taken from his shoulder
Fujii hasn’t wasted his time off. As well as spending time in his native Japan, he toured Europe, spending time at Darryll Holland’s yard in Newmarket and also visited Hong Kong, taking in some big race meetings and even getting in the local media:
What punters care about though is his strike rate and with 29% of his mounts making the quinella and 44% in the top three, he is the go-to man for many and Singaporean punters will also get to benefit from his services when regular Friday simulcasting from Busan begins this month.
He didn’t always keep the best of company during his time off (Pic: Joe Fujii)
Fujii will rejoin Busan at the head of what is now a sizeable Japanese contingent. Masa Tanaka is one place behind him in the Jockey Championship. Nozomu Tomizawa, who had a successful stint at Seoul five years ago recently came back to Korea and is gradually getting into the swing of things while Hitoshi Oyama has been given a license from this month. Oyama is married to Hitomi Miyashita, who had a very successful time riding at Busan five years ago.
Ikuyasu Kurakane is currently booting home winners at Seoul and the return of Fujii will be celebrated in the betting ring this coming Friday.
There was to be no repeat of Watts Village’s sensational 2013 win for Korea in the latest edition of the Japan/Korea Interaction Cup at Ohi Racecourse in Tokyo on Tuesday night.
Here He Comes and Moon Se Young in the Ohi paddock (Pic: KRA)
Three Korean trained horses made their way to the Japanese capital to take their chances in the 1200M race. However, they were to come up short against a strong line-up of local sprinters, with the race won by the favourite, 6 year-old US-bred Satono Daytona (Tapit).
Here He Comes, ridden by Moon Se Young, came home in 9th, with Parang Juibo in 11th under Kim Ok Sung and Useung Iyagi, who set the early pace under Ikuyasu Kurakane, finishing last of the 13. All horses and riders finished safely and will return to Korea later this week.
Jockey Kim Ok Sung explains what went wrong to the media after Parang Juibo finished 11th (Pic: KRA)
Regardless of the result, the successful running of the race was another step forward as Korean racing, after decades of isolation, finally starts to establish its presence internationally.
And while it was unquestionably disappointing for Korean racing fans that the best domestic sprinters were not put forward for the trip, especially after the unexpected win last year, sometimes it is the taking part that counts.
With this bilateral race with Japan set to continue, and the successful hosting of the Asia Challenge Cup earlier this year, “Interaction” is finally happening.
Jo Sung Gon pulled off a remarkable feat at Busan Racecourse this afternoon, winning 6 of the 11 races – including 5 in a row – all for 6 different trainers and with only one slight odds-on chance among them.
Jo-nly me! Jo Sung Gon rode 6 winners at Busan today
Jo won Race 1 on Namdoui Yeowang, but didn’t strike at all between races 2 and 6, during which time Kim Yong Geun rode a treble of his own. From race 7 on, however, there was no stopping him as he won all of the remaining 5 races on the card.
Pick of the winners was in the class 1 feature where he guided the Peter Wolsley trained Ghost Whisper to a comfortable victory. It was the 14th win of the 6-year-old gelding’s career.
Busan’s reigning champion jockey, the 32-year-old Jo Sung Gon isn’t going to win the title this year. The main reason for this was that he gave his rivals a head start by spending the first three months of the season riding in Macau. Since his return, he has ridden 58 winners and lies 4th in the standings.
Best known among casual racing fans as being the regular jockey for Dangdae Bulpae (seen in the picture above) on whom he won an unprecedented 9 stakes races, he also has a Korean Derby and Oaks to his name and alongside Moon Se Young at Seoul, is widely considered as one of the top two jockeys in Korea.
Jo Sung Gon’s Six-Timer (with trainer name, margin and tote return):
Race 1: Namdoui Yeowang (Creek Cat), Jang Se Han – 4 lengths – 4.1 Race 7: Morning Hwiparam (Everydayissaturday), Lee Jung Pyo – 4 lengths – 3.9 Race 8: Yankee Dream (Yankee Victor), Han Sang Bok – 1.5 lengths – 3.0 Race 9: Forty Cure (Field Asuka), Choi Ki Hong – 1.25 lengths – 3.6 Race 10: Useung Radar (Student Council), Min Jang Gi – Head – 4.4 Race 11: Ghost Whisper (Gotham City), Peter Wolsley – 4 lengths – 1.9
Shinichi Terachi has finished up his stint rising at Seoul Racecourse but there’s a familiar face back on the Korean racing scene as Nozomu Tomizawa returns to the peninsula to take up a 4-month jockey license at Busan.
Shinichi Terachi’s biggest win in Korea came on Geumbit Hwanhui in the Seoul Oaks Trial (KRA)
It was a challenging four months at Seoul for Terachi. The 35-year-old was able to get on plenty of horses but he wasn’t given a whole lot of quality to work with and ends with 7 winners from 159 rides. Whenever he got a horse with a chance of winning, he got the job done including two winners on his final weekend.
He also won on one which didn’t look to have a chance. Terachi’s biggest victory came in June’s Sports Seoul Cup, the capital’s main Oaks trial race, on 27/1 outsider Geumbit Hwanhui.
Nozomu Tomizawa in the Seoul paddock during his first stint in Korea (KRA)
His departure leaves the remarkable Ikuyasu Kurakane, currently 2nd in the Seoul Jockey Championship, as the only foreign rider in the capital.
That’s because it’s to Busan, where Masa Tanaka has been having to talk to himself in the weighing room since the departure of Darryll Holland and long-term injury to Joe Fujii, that Nozomu Tomizawa will go as he returns to Korea five years after he finished up his first stint here.
Tomizawa arrived in August 2007 and battled away for almost two years racking up 47 winners from 722 rides at Seoul. He didn’t win any Stakes races but is best remembered for his partnership with the gelding Gamadongja – a horse that was really a sprinter – on whom Tomizawa won four Class 1 races at distances from 1200M to 2000M.
It won’t be Tomizawa’s first time at Busan. He has one win from eight mounts at the South Coast track on weekends when he visited to ride in Stakes races. The 33-year-old has spent most of his riding career in Australia and should fit in well with the similarly Antipodean-accented Tanaka, who is also committed to the track until at least the end of this year.
As for Masa Tanaka himself, the hugely personable jockey currently lies in 8th position in the Busan Championship and produced a cracking ride in Seoul this past Sunday to guide New York Blue to 3rd place in the Asia Challenge Cup.
Two days before the Asia Challenge Cup, Tanaka rode a double at Busan, one of which was for trainer Bart Rice. The South African is maintaining his superb strike rate with 21% of his starters winning since he opened his barn at the track last December.
Rice currently lies in 12th position in the Trainers’ Championship, having saddled more than 100 fewer starters than all but two of the trainers ahead of him. One of those two is Peter Wolsley, currently clear in 2nd place.
No update on foreign riders in Korea would be complete though without talking about Joe Fujii, The man who took over Toshio Uchida’s title as “the most popular Japanese person in Korea” was in Seoul last weekend to watch the Asia Challenge Cup.
While his broken shoulder is expected to keep him out for another three months, the ever-positive Fujii was in high spirits and with his license to ride in Korea having been extended despite his injury, he was looking forward to getting back to business on the track as soon as possible.
Fujii has won the Derby, the Oaks and the Grand Prix Stakes. Korean punters are looking forward to his return just as much as the man himself.
Joe Fujii watches the races at Seoul on Sunday. All punters want him back riding as soon as possible
El Padrino showed his class with a dominant victory for Singapore in the inaugural Asia Challenge Cup at Seoul Racecourse on Sunday.
El Padrino wins the Asia Challenge Cup under David Flores (Pic: Elan959)
Sent off as the pre-race favourite by Korean punters, El Padrino made a steady start, settling into the middle of the pack under jockey David Flores as local contenders Fly Top Queen, Watts Village and Cowboy Son made the early pace.
Flores started to make up ground as they began the long-turn for home, improving around the outside – just like he had done on one earlier mount in a previous race. Tracking him was Lee Chan Ho on Wonder Bolt, the 3rd favourite.
It would be these two who would dominate the remainder of the race, El Padrino hitting the front just after the two-furlong pole, Flores shifting inside and then letting loose. Wonder Bolt chased gallantly on the outside but never came close to catching him
Ultimately, El Padrino would win by two lengths in a track record time of 1:23.8. Wonder Bolt also finished inside the old record, a full eight lengths ahead of 3rd placed New York Blue. The Japanese pair of Toshi Gang Star and Pierre Tiger came home in 4th and 5th.
There was disappointment for the other two Singaporean raiders; Speedy Cat and Trudeau never getting into a rhythm and coming home 9th and 10th respectively. Meanwhile, those early pace-setters and frequent rivals, Fly Top Queen and Watts Village were the last two home.
El Padrino and David Flores fly the flag in the Winner’s Circle
The race capped an important weekend for Korean horse racing. Unprecedented work had gone into securing a quarantine protocol which would allow the Singaporean runners to visit – a similar one was completed with Japan last year and involved the creating of an expanded quarantine zone at the racecourse.
At a welcome dinner the previous evening, the Chairman of Toko City Keiba, representing Japan – where there will be a return leg for three Korean horses in November, a race won by Watts Village last year – spoke as did the Chairman of the Singapore Turf Club. The race was broadcast live to Singapore where it made up part of the Sunday card at Kranji. Regular simulcast broadcasts to Singapore – 14 races were broadcast on Saturday – also began earlier this summer and is generating a steady turnover.
At the track, the usually stuffy 6th floor was livened up by the presence of some boisterous visiting connections, especially those representing Trudeau. Even the parade ring actually looked like a big race was about to take place.
A year ago, simulcasting and an international race of this standard – even after the successful running Japan/Korea Goodwill Cup, looked an incredibly long way off. But it has happened. Even some imitators of this blog have started up. After years of nothing, progress has suddenly gathered pace.
On Sunday, the pace everyone was talking about, belonged to El Padrino.
Asia Challenge Cup 2014 – Seoul Racecourse – 1400M – Aug 31, 2014
1. El Padrino (NZ) [Mr. Nancho – Crownie (Luskin Star)] – David Flores – 2.8, 1.3 2. Wonder Bolt (USA) [Desert Warrior – Little Champ (Great Gladiator)] – Lee Chan Ho – 2.0 3. New York Blue (USA) [Candy Ride – Aim For The Moon (Deputy Minister)] – Masakazu Tanaka – 4.9 Distances: 2 lengths / 8 lengths Also Ran: 4. Toshi Gang Star (JPN) 5. Pierre Tiger (JPN) 6. Indian Blue (KOR) 7. Chocolat Verrine (JPN) 8. Cowboy Son (USA) 9. Speedy Cat (NZ) 10. Trudeau (AUS) 11. Persia Wangja (CAN) 12. Changiparang (USA) 13. Watts Village 14. Fly Top Queen
