News

Too Good Dangdae Bulpae Strolls Minister’s Cup

Busan Sweeps Placings In Final Leg of Triple Crown

Last week, Tough Win was crowned King of Seoul. Today, Dangdae Bulpae came up from Busan and put in a performance every bit as impressive to win the Minister’s Cup – the final leg of the 2010 Korean Triple Crown – and take his place as the year’s top Korean bred three-year old.

Dangdae Bulpae & Jo Sung Gon in the Mininter's Cup Winner's Circle

The similarities were striking. Completing the ten-furlongs just half a second slower than Tough Win did in the KRA Cup Classic, Dangdae Bulpae, like his US-bred counterpart last week, won the race with a quick burst of speed as the field entered the home straight, sewing things up with a furlong remaining. Indeed, so confortable was the win that jockey Jo Sung Gon spent the last 100 metres striking posing for the 60,000 racegoers in attendance.

And he had every right to do so. The horse who got closest to him was Cheonnyeon Daero. It was a valiant effort from the Derby winner but at no stage did he look like threatening the winner. Completing a Busan clean-sweep of the placings was Glory Yeonggwang, a further length and a half back in third.

Lost in the haze: Cheonnyeon Daero had to settle for second today

Indeed, Busan’s remaining entrant, Triple Sinhwa took fourth. It’s a remarkable achievement for the Gyeongnam track and one that should have Seoul’s trainers once again asking what they are doing wrong. In the event. Tamnaseontaek was the first of Seoul’s finishers – and in fifth, the only one to gain any prize money.

Those recriminations – and believe me, we’re going to have them here very soon – can wait. Today is about celebration and anticipation. Dangdae Bulpae, now a winner of eight races from eleven starts, has already beaten older horses in the Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup and today he only needed to show a fraction of what he might be capable of. Race fans can only hope that his connections prove ambitious and want to test him against foreign horses.

The biggest event on the Korean racing calendar is the season-ending Grand Prix Stakes. It’s open to all and punters vote on horses to receive invitations. Now that Busan horses are also eligible, Dangdae Bulpae’s election should be a formality. Whether the invitation will be accepted or not is quite a different matter. Let’s hope it is as waiting for him back in Seoul in December will surely be none other than Tough Win.

Minister of FAFF Cup (KOR G.III) – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – October 10, 2010

1. Dangdae Bulpae (KOR) [Biwa Shinseiki – Indeed My Dear (Alydeed)] – Jo Sung Gon – 1.7, 1.1
2. Cheonnyeon Daero (KOR) [Creek Cat – Doneitmyway (Northern Flagship)] – Park Geum Man – 1.4
3. Glory Yeonggwang (KOR) [Didyme – Lady Sandido (Sandrigo)] – Mun Jung Won – 6.1

Distances: 6 lengths/1.5 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Triple Sinhwa 5. Tamnaseontaek 6. Gayabobae 7. Forest Wind 8. Best Holls 9. Bonsol 10. Andy’s Runner 11. Hey Dey 12. Medlin Speed 13. Tracker 14. Yerimi

* Thanks to Roar for the upload.

Could Be A Classic

Dongbanui Gangja vs Tough Win Part 2

It could be. This Sunday sees the re-match between double Grand Prix champion Dongbanui Gangja and the young pretender to his crown as best horse in Korea, Tough Win as they both line up for the Group 3 KRA Cup Classic at Seoul Race Park. The pair met for the first time down at Busan in July and on that day it was the three-year old Tough Win who came out on top breaking Dongbanui Gangja’s run of twelve straight victories.

However, the pair never really faced off. The notoriously hard to control Dongbanui Gangja veered wildly off course on the final turn squandering any chance of victory. Tough Win took the victory, but it was a close-run thing with Vicar Love and Yeonseung Daero both getting very very close to him. Nevertheless, he won and good horses don’t need to win by much, they just need to win and Tough Win has a perfect eight for eight.

Choi Bum Hyun will return to partner Dongbanui Gangja. Choi missed the Busan Metropolitan due to injuryand it was Moon Se Young in the saddle when the five-year old went wide. However, in his previous run with Choi on board at Seoul in April, Dongbanui Gangja had done exactly the same thing. That day, he got away with it.

Even if Dongbanui Gangja does stay straight, he will still have to contend with a back-breaking 63 kilos to carry. The younger Tough Win carries more than 4 kilos less. They both have eleven other contenders to deal with too. Larrycat and Hwanggeumjandi are young up-and-comers while Angus Empire and Baekjeonmupae have been competing at the top level for nearly three years now. Owners’ Cup winner Serendipper is the only filly or mare in the race.

The KRA Cup Classic is race 9 of an 11 race card at Seoul Race Park on Sunday. Racing gets underway at 11:20am with the big one at 5pm. Here’s a full list of the runners, weights, race records and rider:

KRA Cup Classic (KOR.G.III) – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – October 3, 2010, 5pm

1. Hwanggeumjandi (USA) – 56kg – (11/5/0/2) – Kim Young Jin
2. Baekjeonmupae (NZ) – 57.5kg – (34/10/7/2) – Yoo Sang Wan
3. Emperor Cugat (AUS) – 53kg – (17/4/4/2) – Han Sung Youl
4. Kahnui Jeonseol (NZ) – 51kg – (24/2/5/5) – Jo In Kwen
5. Free Hugs (AUS) – 58kg – (34/5/9/4) – Shin Hyoung Chul
6. Indian Secret (USA) – 53kg – (21/4/1/2) – Won Jung Il
7. Park’s Pride (NZ) – 51kg – (12/3/4/1) – Lee Gi Hweoi
8. Dongbanui Gangja (USA) – 63kg – (25/17/4/2) – Choi Bum Hyun
9. Tough Win (USA) – 58.5kg – (8/8/0/0) – Cho Kyoung Ho
10. Angus Empire (USA) – 59kg – (38/11/8/4) – Moon Se Young
11. Larrycat (USA) – 55kg – 12/5/3/2 – Park Tae Jong
12. Serendipper (AUS) – 54kg – (30/4/7/3) – Lee Sang Hyeok
13. Cheonjidolpung (USA) – 52kg – (24/5/0/4) – Boo Min Ho

Field Takes Shape For Triple Crown Showdown

Dongbanui Gangja vs Tough Win Part 2 / Triple Crown Concludes

Enough talk of the NGCC and electronic ID cards. We’re back on the track and about to embark on two massive weekends of racing in Korea.

Part 2? Dongbanui Gangja (right) and Tough Win - Pic:KRA

Just a few hours from now, we’ll find out if Dongbanui Gangja and Tough Win will indeed face each other at Seoul Race Park this coming Sunday in the Group 3 KRA Cup Classic. Korea’s best two horses went head-to-head for the first time two months ago in the Busan Metropolitan with young upstart Tough Win taking the honours after double Grand Prix Champion Dongbanui Gangja veered suicidally wide on the final turn. What will happen at Seoul? Full preview to come over the next couple of days.

Regardless what happens there though, a week later we’re guaranteed another top class race the when the 2010 Triple Crown concludes with the Group 2 Minister’s Cup – formally, and wonderfully, known as the Minister for FAFF (Farming, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) also at Seoul Race Park. Derby Winner Cheonnyeon Daero heads north to the capital once more, however, the horse who was second that day, Money Car will not. Whether we will ever see the injured KRA Cup Mile winner back on the track is questionable. Nor will long-shot Oaks Winner Euro Fighter be present.

Cheonnyeon Daero beats Money Car in the Derby

However, that doesn’t mean this isn’t set to be an intriguing contest. Dangdae Bulpae was third in the Derby but is unbeaten since. Most recently, the son of Biwa Shinseiki dispatched an array of big-name older horses in dismissive fashion in the Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup. He is sure to give Cheonnyeon Daero a run for his money. Then there is Glory Yeonggwang. Sent off at 60/1 in the Gold Circle Trophy earlier this month, he upset the odds – and eleven rivals – to take the prize and earn a place at Seoul.

Best Holls - Ilgan Sports winner

Another improver is Best Holls. The surprise winner of the Ilgan Sports Cup will try his luck in what seems a very open field. In Euro Fighter’s absence, the hopes of the fillies look set to rest with Dongbang Rose. She was third in the Oaks but back on her home track could pull off a surprise. Here is the full list of the fourteen horses currently entered (race records/home track):

FAFF Minister’s Cup (KOR.G.II) – Seoul Race Park – October 10 – 2000M

1. Cheonnyeon Daero (13/4/5/2) Busan
2. Dangdae Bulpae (10/7/0/1) Busan
3. Triple Shinhwa (9/3/4/0) Busan
4. Glory Yeonggwang (14/4/2/3) Busan
5. Andy’s Runner (12/3/2/5) Seoul
6. Forest Wind (8/3/0/2) Seoul
7. Bonsol (14/4/0/3) Seoul
8. Dongbang Rose (8/4/1/2) Seoul (filly)
9. Medlin Speed (10/4/0/0) Seoul
10. Best Holls (10/5/1/2) Seoul
11. Gayabobae (11/4/2/0) Seoul
12. Gaecheok (8/1/1/3) Seoul
13. Hey Day (8/2/3/1) Seoul
14. Tracker (9/3/1/2) Seoul

* In Stud news, the KRA announced today that they have purchased the stallion Officer [Bertrando – St. Helens Shadow (Septieme Ciel)], who is currently standing for a $10,000 fee in Kentucky. Officer will be flown to the KRA’s stallion station on Jeju Island where the eleven year-old will be standing alongside the likes of Ecton Park, Volponi and Menifee as well as more established Korea-based sires Revere, Didyme and Psychobabble.

Electronic ID Card Trials Set To Begin

Punters’ Betting To Be Tracked

According to the National Gaming Control Commission (NGCC), 6.1% of Koreans are addicted to gambling. Also, the addiction rate among those who actually attend gambling establishments (i.e. the track and Gangwon Land Casino) is supposedly 61% (Gyongmaman is going to ask for a show of hands on the fourth floor next Saturday). Indeed, according to their criteria, your correspondent is among those in urgent need of help. It is on its way; in October, trials will begin of an Electronic ID card which the NGCC hope to make compulsory for all punters. The card will track every bet made by an individual.

Punters

All legal punters, that is. The move comes in a month where gambling has again been in the news with two high profile cases – one tragic, one mildly pathetic. In the first case, a man in Gangwon Province has been charged with murdering his wife and teenage son following a quarrel over his gambling debts. In the second, entertainer (and that word is used loosely) Shin Jung Hwan is on the run after allegedly running up big gambling debts in Cebu.

Falling foul of not just the loan-sharks, but also the law that makes it illegal for a Korean citizen to gamble even while overseas, Shin can’t return to Korea for fear of being arrested. Shin claimed that in fact, he hadn’t been gambling but had instead contracted dengue fever and a picture purportedly showing him in hospital in the Phillippines was promptly uploaded to his website. However, KBS TV – until recently one of his employers – went to the hospital in question and found that he had been given a clean bill of health. Shin is now reportedly recovering from whatever ails him in Macau. He probably won’t catch Dengue fever there.

Of course, while it is insensitive in the extreme to compare the two cases, both have brought the spotlight back on the issue of gambling. Likewise, in neither of the two cases was the alleged gambling debt run up by legal means. However, it is the legal outlet of racing that is going to bear the brunt of regulation.

Initially the ID card trial is going to involve two sets of subjects. The first group are going to be anonymous – their personal details will not be known, the card will simply track their betting. The second set – and you can be sure that this is the one which will get the final go-ahead – will include punters’ personal information.

Will it have any effect? Perhaps, but while having to produce an ID card imay decrease the practice of “window-hopping” whereby to get round the maximum bet of 100,000 won, a bettor goes to several windows or machines before a race, placing the maximum bet each time, those kinds of punter are generally well aware of the various non-legal options open to them.

Gyongmaman was looking forward to getting his card, however, he remembered it probably won’t apply to him. For the Korean government has a very different approach to non-Koreans gambling as demonstrated by this wonderful quote about the use of credit cards in casinos, which is always worth another airing:

“Currently foreign tourists are able to buy chips only with cash…Government officials said this has discouraged non-Koreans from gambling here adding if visitors were allowed to purchase chips with plastic, they would spend more money”. (Korea Times, September 2009)

New Racecourse Could Change Face Of Korean Racing

2014 Opening at Yeongcheon to Have Big Impact on Seoul

The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) recently confirmed that the nation’s third thoroughbred race track is to be built outside the city of Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. Given ever-stronger anti-gambling sentiment in government, the opening of Yeongcheon could have major implications for the future of horse racing in Korea.

The site that will be a racecourse by 2014

It may sound counter-intuitive but it is precisely becase of ever increased government regulation that the track is being built. The puritans on the National Gaming Control Commission (NGCC), who last year ordered the KRA to close down its internet betting operations, has also ordered the KRA to decrease the amount of off-track betting activity. It has “recommended” that the ratio of off-course to on-course betting turnover be no greater than 50-50 by 2013. Currently approximately 70% of all wagering is done off-track at the “KRA Plaza” betting outlets located around the country. Privately many in the KRA believe that the NGCC will not stop until all (legal) off-track betting is ended.

A new racecourse therefore has become necessary. Ostensibly, Yeongcheon was chosen due to its location close to Daegu, Korea’s third-largest city, although many believed that a second track in the Seoul/Gyeonggi area, where 50% of the country’s population lives would have been a better option.

The opening of Yeongcheon Racecourse Park – as it will officially be called – could also see some fundamental changes made to the structure of Korean racing. Not only is the KRA required to minimise off-track operations, it is also required to minimise those on-track. The NGCC has long been pushing for a revenue cap on the KRA, that is, it would only be allowed to accept a certain value of bets within a one-year period. While the NGCC might be insane, the government, who have to rubber-stamp any proposal, enjoys the substantial tax revenues it receives from racing. Instead a compromise of a firm cap on the number of races that can be run looks inevitable. This means that Yeongcheon’s opening will dramatically reduce the number of races run at Seoul.

Currently, plans are for each of the three thoroughbred tracks – Seoul, Busan and Yeongcheon – to run 87 days of racing in a year. This is similar to what Seoul does now but instead of the current 11 or 12 races in a day, they will be limited to 8. This means that all three tracks will run 696 races per year for a total on the peninsula of 2392. Each track is also set to get a three or four month shutdown at some point during the year. Accordingly, a large number of trainers will need to be redistributed away from Seoul.

Seoul Race Park may lose its dominance

Plans for Yeongcheon include an official opening in 2014 with an international race to be run within the same year. This would perhaps be the same “international race” that the KRA has been planning to hold every year since 2004 as part of its “internationalization” plan. Overall, while it is bad news for Seoul based punters, perhaps anything that reduces that capital track’s stranglehold over Korean racing is a potential blessing. The vested interests and pre-historic Unions that essentially hold the power at Seoul have long meant that any positive developments in improving the quality of racing in Korea have been frustrated.

Despite their best efforts, particularly earlier this year, Union power at Busan has so far been limited since that track opened in 2005. With a third track to worry about and a smaller power base at Seoul to work from, it could be time for the KRA to wrest back control of Korean racing. If it really wants to.

* Meanwhile, the NGCC’s plans to equate legal gamblers with criminals continue. From next month, trials of Electronic ID cards, which the NGCC plans to make mandatory for any Korean citizen wishing to indulge in a legal wager, will begin. More on this soon.

Grand Prix Set For Release Thursday

New Korean racing movie Grand Prix, starring Kim Tae Hee and Yang Dong Geun and part funded by the Korea Racing Authority, will be released in cinemas across the country this Thursday, September 16. This is the trailer that has been playing in Korean movie theatres for the past couple of weeks:

* No Kim Tae Hees were harmed during the making of this movie

Stalling For Korea

Gyongmaman generally gets excited about all things horse racing. Yet even he struggles to raise much enthusiasm about starting gates – or “stalls” as he was brought up to say. However, a strangely high number of googlers arriving at this site by way of the search term “Korean starting gates” this week did remind him that last weekend, the Korean racing media was gushing in its approval of the fact that Seoul and Busan Race Parks have acquired new starting gates which are, for the first-time ever, Korean made!

Threeway view: But only 12 could fit in the old nasty foreign-made gate

And how are they? Actually, Gyongmaman didn’t notice, but apparently the new ones can accommodate a full field of fourteen horses in a single unit. Fourteen is the maximum number of horses permitted to run in any race in Korea. The old ones had twelve and two had to be joined together for races which attracted a full entry. Unfortunately, the only picture Gyongmaman took of the gates last weekend was the one below – taken in a torrential downpour while the photographer had a substantial sum riding on the winner – but there are, indubitably fourteen stalls in the one unit. Bravo Korean technology!

It's wet and Lee Ae Li is in the foreground, but yes, you can see that 14 horses can fit into these gates!

Hiro’s Welcome

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.

Cheonun Can Take Korean Oaks Back To Seoul

The Korean Oaks has only been run at Busan for two years but in that time, the southern track has taken something of a stranglehold over both it and the other three-year old Classics. On Sunday, fourteen fillies will line up for the 2010 edition of the race. And in Cheonun, Seoul has an excellent chance of taking the crown back to the capital. Here are the runners and riders:

Korean Oaks (KOR.GII) – Busan Race Park – 1800M Aug 29, 2010 – 15:45

1. Crown Flag (13/1/2/3) – Kim Myoung Sin (Busan)
Despite an encouraging second last time out, it would be a major surprise if she was to trouble the placings.
2. Heukgun Jilju (9/3/1/2) – Kim Dong Young (Busan)
Has two wins from her last four starts. If the visitors from Seoul don’t enjoy the Busan track, she has an outside placing chance.
3. Kanui Byeol (9/3/1/2) – Cho Kyoung Ho (Seoul)
Finished well behind Cheonun and Dongbang Rose in the Sports Seoul but may benefit from the slightly longer distance and she will appear in many punters’ quinellas.
4. Saeroun Gongju (9/2/1/2) – Choi Si Dae (Busan)
Has really struggled since moving up to class 2. Not completely without hope, but an outsider nonetheless.
5. Sanbang Plus (12/2/2/1) – Mun Jung Won (Busan)
Won last time out to break a string of disappointing performances but not expected to challenge here.
6. Euro Fighter (9/3/2/1) – Moon Jung Kyun (Seoul)
Not many give her a chance but she was third in the Sports Seoul and is one of very few in the race to have won a two-turn race.
7. Cheonun (8/4/3/1) – Choi Bum Hyun
The favorite. Never finished worse than third, she was a 5-length winner of the Sports Seoul Cup. If she’s on form, she will win.
8. Selah (11/4/1/1) – Yoo Sang Wan
In great form with two wins and a second in her last three outings which has made a run here possible. If she keeps that form going, she must be considered for a place.
9. Dongbang Rose (7/4/1/1) – Shin Hyoung Chul
One of the stars of her year group so far, she’s finished behind Cheonun in each of her last three starts. It would be no surprise if they were to be first and second here.
10. Saeroungangja (9/3/2/0) – Lee Dong Kug
Another who didn’t look a Classic prospect until good recent form changed things. She’ll have supporters but a place looks the extent of her ambitions.
11. Shining Champion (13/1/0/7) – Hitomi Miyashita
Likes finishing third. She’ll have the only lady jockey in the race on board but there’s little suggest she’ll be anything other than an also-ran.
12. Harue (6/2/2/2) – Park Tae Jong
An intriguing entrant. Won convincingly at 1700 metres last time and is worth taking a plunge on at what should be generous prices.
13. Namgang (10/2/2/2) – Kim Yong Geun
If a Busan filly is going to win, this one has as much chance as any. She’ll have to improve a lot though to beat Cheonun.
14. Hushtilled (13/3/3/1) – Jung Ki Yong
Hasn’t really live up to her early promise to date but she’s the only filly in the race to hae won over the distance and a surprise is possible.

Choi Leads Korea To Challenge Victory

Syu Ishibashi Lands YTN on Tanmahwanhui while Muzi Yeni Also a Winner

Choi Bum Hyun ended up victorious, but there was plenty to cheer too for Japan’s Syu Ishibashi and South Africa’s Muzi Yeni as the 2010 International Jockey Invitational drew to a close in front of 50,000 people under the floodlights at Seoul Race Park this evening.

Choi Bum Hyun returns to scale on Jisang Mujeok after taking a winning lead in the Jockey's Invitational

In only the second week of his comeback from injury, Choi landed race 7 – the third leg of the Invitational – with a four-length win on Jisang Mujeok, to effectively wrap things up in favour of the home team. However, there was still the main event to come, the tenth running of the YTN Cup. Always a big event, due to its sponsorship by Korea’s 24 hour news channel – who broadcast the race and subsequent ceremony live (the only horse race you’ll see on Korean TV all year) – the all filly and mare race was where the visitors finally came into their own.

The winner was something of a surprise though. Tamnahwanhui was sent off at 20/1 but, under Syu Ishibashi boucned out of the gate and into a lead that she would never relinquish. Those who came closest to catching her were Baengnakgo, under Akin Sozen and Sky Center – Scott Seamer adding a third place finish to his second yesterday.

Syu Ishibashi and Tamnahwanhui pose

Four-year old Tamnahwanhui was recording her third straight win and fifth in total from twelve starts.

After the contest was over, Muzi Yeni and Oliver Castillo got back out on regular rides in race 10 and it ended in glory for the young South African. Yeni guided the 12/1 shot Bogideongguljae to a commanding five-length win. Always showing towards the front of the thirteen strong field, Bogideongguljae hit the front in mid-stretch and never looked like being caught.

Winner - Muzi Yeni

Overall, the Korean team won the contest by 112 points to 78. However, Ishibashi, Yeni, Seamer and Sozen will all go away with plenty of earned prize money. As in previous years, it was an enjoyable event to watch and punters took warmly to the visitors – espeically the tiny Yeni who built up quite a following trackside in his five rides.

YTN Cup – Seoul Race Park – 1900M – August 22, 2010

1. Tamnahwanhui (KOR) [Al Naba – Bulbijihye (Pro For Sure)] – Syu Ishibashi – 21.1, 5.3
2. Baengnakgo (KOR) [Fiercely – Sobaeksu (Mr. Adorable)] – Akin Sozen – 2.7
3. Sky Center (USA) [Anziyan – Busy Chick (Numerous)] – Scott Seamer – 2.7
Distances: 0.75 lengths/0.75 lengths

Also Ran: 4. Gwangsokcheoreom (Oh Kyoung Hoan) 5. Hwansanguimulgyeol (Cho Kyoung Ho – KOR) 6. Fly Top (Oliver Castillo – USA) 7. Devilish Speed (Yoo Sang Wan – KOR) 8. Fortunata (Nisall McCullogh – IRE) 9. Chongalcheoreom (Moon Se Young – KOR) 10. Gangha Speed (Park Tae Jong – KOR) 11. Raon Chamber (Muzi Yeni – SA) 12. D Day (Choi Bum Hyun – KOR) 13. Yeopungjudo (Jung Ki Yong – KOR) 14. Gwacheon Geojang (Lee Sang Hyeok)

YTN brought their cameras to their race