Here’s the first one…:
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Cho Kyoung Ho Does It Again
Geumgangi Wins The Munhwa Ilbo
It was another big race win for Cho Kyoung Ho as Geumgangi swept to victory in the Munhwa Ilbo Cup at Seoul Race Park this evening. And the jockey followed it up by guiding long-shot Victory Town to an unlikely victory in the Seoul Kyeongje Sinmun Cup just thirty minutes later.
Back in the Winner's Circle: Geumgangi won the Munhwa Ilbo
Geumgangi was sent off fourth in the betting in a race which was marred by chaos at the start after Blooming reared in the gate bringing down Daehanbobae in the neigbouring stall. Both were ruled unfit to start after being checked by the vet. When the remaining twelve did get underway, there were further distressing scenes as Mr. Swing broke down rounding the final turn. Meanwhile, at the front of the race Cho and Geumgangi got their act together in the home straight to get the better of a pair of outsiders, Choedaepungseok and Tamnaseontaek who filled out the placings.
It was a third consecutive win for the improving Geumgangi. Once the ceremonies were complete, Cho re-emerged for the Seoul Kyeongje Sinmun and pulled off an unexpected win when the appropriately named Victory Town comfortably got the better of odds-on favourite Angus Empire by three lengths.
Jung Ki Yong, far side, allows himself a wry glance as Lee Shin Young (No.5) comes through to land race 5
That completed a treble for Cho, who is now closing in on Moon Se Young at the top of the jockeys’ championship, after he also won on favourite Balhaemyeongjang in race 6. Lady rider and trainer-in-waiting Lee Shin Young scored a battling victory on Nike Seven in race 5 while four-year-old gelding Bichui Adeul finally broke his maiden at the twenty-sixth time of asking in race 8.
Racing on the peninsula now takes a (very) short summer break and actress Kim Tae Hee was on hand once more to see punters off on their holidays. Kim and actor Yang Dong Geun were filming the final race-day scenes for their movie “Grand Prix”.
Actress Kim Tae Hee was also in attendance
Grand Prix Movie Poster Revealed
The official promotional poster for racing movie “Grand Prix” starring Kim Tae Hee and Yang Dong Geun was released last week. And here it is:
Grand Prix Publicity Poster
Interestingly, while Kim Tae Hee has her own specially designed green, white and pink racing silks, the leading lady also wears all time leading jockey Park Tae Jong’s silks and leading man Yang wears those of young jockey Choi Won Joon – to whom he bears a passing resemblence. More official stills from the movie can be seen here.
Gyongmaman is disappointed to see himself blurred out in the paddock shot, but if you want to see his exclusive behind the scenes pictures click here!.
Grand Prix is scheduled for an autumn release.
Head To Head
Tough Examination Ahead For Dongbanui Gangja
Dongbanui Gangja (right) and Tough Win - Pic:KRA
Korean racing’s unstoppable force collides with its immovable object at Busan Race Park this evening as Dongbanui Gangja, double Grand Prix winner and unbeaten in twelve races, meets Tough Win, two years his junior and victorious in all seven of his starts.
The Race: Busan City Mayor’s Cup (G.III Stakes Listed) – Busan Race Park – 2000M, 19:10
The Headliners
Dongbanui Gangja (USA) [Broken Vow – Maremaid (Storm Bird)] Five-year old horse. 24 starts, 17 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds. Winner Grand Prix 2008, 2009; Owner’s Cup 2009. Jockey: Moon Se Young (58 kilos)
Tough Win (USA) [Yonaguska – Maggie May’s Sword (Sword Dance)] Three-year old gelding. 7 starts, 7 wins. Jockey: Cho Kyoung Ho (55 kilos)
This could be the first of a series of meetings between the pair and, all things being equal, Dongbanui Gangja should win. This time. Nevertheless, he’s only raced twice this year and last time out drifted so far wide in the home straight that he was very lucky to beat the unheralded Big Sox. Jockey Moon Se Young, stepping in for the injured Choi Bum Hyun will need to make sure there’s no repeat of that against a much classier field on Busan’s punishing and unfamiliar track.
The Others: Don’t rule out a surprise. Neither of the two favourites have run at Busan before and Seoul horses have a less than stellar record at the track. Seonnyang Yongsa is in top form while the seven-year old Crafty Louis looks back to his best. Meanwhile two domestic bred horses will take their chances. Yeonseung Daero and Yeongung Manse have both successfully mixed it with the foreigners before. Whether they can take on the likes of Dongbanui Gangja and Tough Win though is another matter.
The Busan City Mayor’s Cup is race 4 of a six race card at Busan today which runs from 4:30pm to 9pm. The big race is off at 7:10pm and will be simulcasted live at Seoul Race Park.
Baekpa Returns To Her Greatest Race
Baekpa will step out onto a sodden Seoul Race Park on Sunday evening returning to the race which saw arguably her greatest triumph, as she bids to regain the SBS Cup. As a four-year old in 2008, the grey came up against two-time President’s Cup winner Myeongmun Gamun, then at his zenith. She never gave him a look-in as she led from gate-to-wire.
Baekpa can land the SBS Cup
What followed for Baekpa was unfortunate. Sent to the USA as part of the KRA’s ill-judged experiment with sending domestic bred horses to the US. She looked uncomfortable and was humiliated in all her races. Lame on her return home, she was sidelined for nearly a year but, like her older brother Baekgwang a year ago, she made a remarkable return this Spring. After finishing fourth in the Ttukseom Cup, she would go on to win a big Allowance race in June which has now set her up for the SBS.
Top Ranked: Triple Seven
Winning the Ttukseom Cup that day in April was Triple Seven. Currently ranked the top domestic-bred horse on the peninsula, he will be out to stop Baekpa tomorrow. Baekpa should be favourite though. The mare has a seven kilo weight advantage and loves the dirty conditions. It is by no means a two-horse race, however. Last year’s shock winner Hallyu Star returns while Wangson, Bengnyeonbong and Khanui Jeguk are all dangers.
However, both the smart and sentimental money will be on Baekpa.
The SBS Cup is race 9 at Seoul Race Park and is off at 7:40pm. There are eleven races at Seoul on Sunday with the first at 2:30pm and the last at 9:10pm
Something’s Got To Give As Dongbanui Gangja Faces Tough Win
This really is the big one. Double Grand Prix winner Dongbanui Gangja, unbeaten in two years, puts everything on the line against the young challenger Tough Win, yet to be tested in seven starts. Alongside them, the supporting cast contains a number of horses rightly considered stars in their own right.
The Busan Mayor’s Cup is at Busan Race Park under the lights this coming Sunday evening and it is unquestionably, the biggest race in recent Korean history. We’ll have plenty more on it before Sunday. For now, here is the line-up in full (Name/Record/Jockey):
Busan Mayor’s Cup (G.III) – Busan Race Park – 2000M – July 18, 19:10
1. Purely Spontaneus (USA) (19/8/1/1) – Yang Young Nam
2. Captain Sir (USA) (10/5/3/0) – Chae Gyu Jun
3. Vicar Love (USA) (23/10/1/4) – Jung Ki Yong
4. Dongbanui Gangja (USA) (24/17/4/2) – Moon Se Young
5. Geumbittuhon (USA) (37/3/5/3) – Jung Pyeong Soo
6. Tiffanyuikkum (AUS) (25/5/1/2) – Shin Dae Jun
7. Kahnui Jeonseol (NZ) (21/2/5/4) – Choi Won Joon
8. Yeonseung Daero (KOR) (22/10/3/3) – Park Geum Man
9. Larrycat (USA) (10/4/3/2) – Bang Choon Sik
10. Seonnyang Yongsa (AUS) (23/9/5/4) – Jo Sung Gon
11. Yeongung Manse (KOR) (23/10/4/3) – Hitomi Miyashita
12. Tough Win (USA) (7/7/0/0) – Cho Kyoung Ho
13. Crafty Louis (USA) (39/15/5/3) – Jo Chang Wook
14. Cheonjidolpung (USA) (22/5/0/3) – Boo Min Ho
Post-Race: Jockeys Face Punters at Seoul
Seoul Race Park took a very rare visible step in bringing itself in line with international racing recently as now for the first time, punters are able to see horses and jockeys returning to scale after each race.
Cho Kyoung Ho unsaddles
Up until now, on conclusion of a race, runners and riders would disappear back into their subterranean lair, with only Stakes winners re-emerging for the crowd. Several months ago, construction began on a new enclosure just beyond the winning post for horses to return to immediately after each race, along with a building for jockeys to weigh-in before taking elevators back underground. Now, win or lose, every jockey has to unsaddle in front of whoever wants to watch with all the associated celebrations, recriminations and confrontations open for all to see.
Shin Hyoung Chul returns a winner
It’s given punters an opportunity to show their appreciation (or otherwise) to the jockey who has just made them temporarily rich (or otherwise) and allows the curious a close up glimpse of exactly how shattered both runner and rider are after a race.
Most of all though, it has allowed a special window into the camaraderie that exists between the jockeys. Choice exchange of the weekend came after race 9 on Sunday – forgive Gyongmaman’s approximate translation:
Yoon Tae Hyoug: “Sang Woo. You’re a f*****g a******e”
Park Sang Woo: (mumbled) “Go f**k yourself”
Fun for all the family.
Moon Se Young stalks moodily away after a rare setback
Wepner Bows Out But There’s a King Shark in the Busan Tank
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)
It’s On! Dongbanui Gangja vs Tough Win Set For Busan
When it was revealed that this year’s Seoul Owners’ Cup race was to be fillies only, Korean racing fans let out a collective groan of disappointment. Not that they have anything against fillies mind, but that in recent years the race had been a summer showdown of the best horses the track has to offer. That this year’s Busan Mayor’s Cup would be opened up to horses from Seoul looked scant consolation.
The Champion: Dongbanui Gangja
For this year, there is one contest that everyone is waiting for. Double Grand Prix winner Dongbanui Gangja is facing perhaps the biggest test of his hegemony to date from the unbeaten three-year old Tough Win. That one of them would ship to Busan to hoover up a prize as large as the Mayor’s Cup was always likely – that both of them would go was thought too much to hope for.
The Challenger: Tough Win
Nevertheless, both Dongbanui Gangja and Tough Win look set to hold their first duel at the Southern track on Sunday July 18th. As the younger of the two, Tough Win will have three kilo weight advantage over the reigning Horse of the Year and every gram of that could come into play over Busan’s punishing two and a half furlong home straight.
While the attention will be on the two stars from Seoul, there’s set to be plenty of local interest too. Crafty Louis is entered as are the Korean bred pair of Yeonseung Daero and Yeongung Manse – the latter having a history of upsetting what had previously been billed a “match-race”.
Seventeen horses remain in at this stage. At least three of those be cut before final declarations. Punters will have their fingers crossed that the two big stars make it.
* Today at Seoul, Janggun Bada was a shock 50/1 winner of the feature race. See full results at our newly revamped results page! Here’s what’s happening on Sunday:
Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:20 to 18:00
Busan Race Park: 6 races from 12:40 to 16:30
Seoul Set For Oaks Trial
Cheonun will be the one to beat when eleven of Seoul’s best three-year old fillies line up on Sunday afternoon for the Sports Seoul Cup, the track’s premier trial race for the Korean Oaks.
With three wins, thee seconds and a third from her seven starts and having beaten decent opposition, Cheonun is likely to be a strong favourite. Nevertheless, there are several others worthy of consideration for the race which, at eight and a half furlongs, is slightly shorter than the big one down at Busan in August.
Hushtilled has the experience and is coming back from a two-month lay-off following while Magic Collar was an impressive winner over the same distance last time out. At the start of the year, Manjeomhwanhui looked a potential superstar. She has struggled in her last two races but both time she was facing older males.
Kanui Byeol has won her last two starts while Candy Gongju is the wildcard having never run more than six furlongs. Meanwhile, Dongbang Rose is likely to have supporters too. Here is a full list of the runners, their records and riders:
Sports Seoul Cup – Seoul Race Park – 1700M – Sun Jun 27, 17:00
1. Special Volpony (8/2/3/2) – Park Sang Woo
2. Cheonun (7/3/3/1) – Oh Kyoung Hoan
3. Hushtilled (11/3/3/1) – Park Tae Jong
4. Magic Collar (8/4/2/0) – Jo In Kwen
5. Dongbang Rose (6/4/0/1) – Shin Hyoung Chul
6. Euro Fighter (8/3/2/0) – Moon Jung Kyun
7. Kanui Byeol (8/3/1/2) – Cho Kyoung Ho
8. Saeroungamun (10/2/2/1) – Ham Wan Sik
9. Candy Gongju (3/2/0/0) – Jung Ki Yong
10. Blue Band Zet (5/1/2/0) – Boo Min Ho
11. Manjeomhwanhui (9/4/0/3) – Moon Se Young
* Today at Seoul, the big race resulted in a surprise win for 30/1 outsider Necromancer. The Japanese four-year old took advantage of carying significantly less weight than favourites Angus Empire, Bally Brae and Bulpae Gisang to record a narrow victory of Emperor Cugat.
Due to time constraints, full results from all meetings will be delayed a little this weekend but are available on the KRA’s website
