News

Moon still way out in front

Despite yet another weekend on the sidelines through suspension, it is hard to imagine Moon Se Young being caught at the top of the jockey’s table. He holds a lead of 13 over nearest rival Cho Kyoung Ho and is just 43 short of Park Tae Jong’s record of 120 in a single year. Park still maintains a clear third place while four winners on Sunday takes Choi Beom Hyun into fourth ahead of Ikuyasu Kurakane:

1. Moon Se Young 77
2. Cho Kyoung Ho 64
3. Park Tae Jong 47
4. Choi Beom Hyun 32
5. Ikuyasu Kurakane 30

Six KRA Jockey school graduates debuted over the weekend, all having two rides with the exception of Kim Cheol Ho who picked up a third as a late replacement. Kim was the only one of the newcomers to place over the weekend.  Thanks to the reader who pointed out that Yu Mi Ra’s first ride on Saturday was on the filly “Charming Girl”, finishing sixth. Of last year’s graduates, Yoo Seung Wan has been the most successful with 22 winners to date

Busan prepares to take Oaks bow

With less than a fortnight to go until the 2008 Korean Oaks, there are fourteen entries for the fillies classic which this year will be held at Busan Race Park for the first time. So far, only two Seoul based horses are slated to make the trip south for the third classic of the year, with both the KRA Cup Mile and Korean Derby having been dominated by Busan horses.

Jeolho Chance (10 runs/5wins), third in the Cup Mile, and Gaya Gongju (10/4) are the top rated entries. Jeolho Chance went off second favourite in the Korean Derby in May and despite finishing well back, recovered to take a 2000 metre category 1 handicap back on home ground at Busan last month. Gaya Gongju most recently finished second over the distance in a category 2 handicap. Also in the field is Useung Party (4/3), a horse who comfortably won her first three races before failing to stay 1600 metres last time.

Seoul’s two entries are the improving Gate Way (13/3) and Baram Queen (11/2) who ran third in the Sports Seoul Cup last time out. Seoul’s poor performance so far this year has been subject to various theories. These have included the Busan track being tougher and therefore providing a better training ground, the unfamiliarity of Seoul jockeys with Busan in the Cup Mile (Busan runners in the Derby were ridden by Seoul jockeys) and simply Busan owners having bought more wisely. Either way, it is hard to see the domination being broken just yet.

The Oaks is race 5 of a 6 race card on Sunday August 10 and is off at 15:35. It is over 1800 metres with first place prize money of KRW 228Million, an increase of nearly KRW 100 Million from last year when Baekpa scored a five length win. We’ll have a full preview and detailed run down of the field next Wednesday.

SA names 2008 Jockey Challenge entrant

South Africa has named its entrant for this year’s International Jockey Challenge which will be held at Seoul Race Park on the weekend of October 4/5. Following on from Gerrit Schlechter’s win in last year’s event, fellow Eastern Cape rider Greg Cheyne will be participating in the four-race competition. Cheyne is the reigning Eastern Cape champion and currently lies fifth in the national standings. See full report on Gold Circle.

Weekend preview – No Racing!

Racing takes a break this weekend to mark midsummer – although it’s not shaping up to be anything like the hottest weekend of the year with heavy rain and thunder predicted.  However, with no evening racing this year, the KRA has opted to take a one week summer break. That means there will be nothing to report on this weekend so instead we’ll be having a lookat some upcoming races, including the Korean Oaks, scheduled for August 10 at Busan Race Park.

Cho Kyoung Ho takes second quarter honours

The KRA has announced that Cho Kyoung Ho has won its quarterly “MVP” jockey poll for April-June. Cho got 46% of the vote ahead of Moon Se Young with 37%. It’s the first time since the final quarter of 2006 that one of either Moon Se Young or Park Tae Jong has failed to take the award which used to be given on a monthly basis. Cho last won the honour in March 2005 and will receive his award on Sunday along with Seo Beom Suk, who took the trainer’s category

Natural Nine and Baekpa entered for SBS

Four year olds Natural Nine – runner-up in the 2007 Derby and winner of this year’s Sports Chosun Cup and Baekpa, winner of the 2007 Oaks and recent conqueror of Namchonuijijon are both entered for the SBS Cup which takes place at Seoul Race Park on Sunday July 20. Also among only eight entries is the seven year old Myeongmun Gamun, winner of the 2007 President’s Cup and a horse that has never been out of the money in his 25 races amassing nearly KRW 1 Billion in prizes. It will be Myeongmun Gamun’s first outing since being forcibly withdrawn when long odds-on favourite for refusing to enter the stalls in a handicap in May. We’ll have the full line-up once the field has been confirmed this time next week.

Four track records fall in June

June has seen four of the ten track records at Seoul Race Park broken:

1300 Metres: The New Zealand bred Playing Politics took nine tenths of a second off the 1300 metre record on June 21 to set a new time of 1:19.1. (Video – needs Internet Explorer)

1800 Metres: Milwaukee Special (Canada) took a two length win in a record time of 1:52.09 on June 29.

1900 Metres: Dashing Champ becomes the only Korean bred horse to currently hold a track record taking a tenth of a second off the 1900 metre record in a time of 2:00.1 on June 22.

2000 Metres: Saerounbisul (New Zealand) landed the Seoul Owner’s Association trophy in a record time of 2:05.0. (Video)

The only records standing for more than year are those of Bally Brae over 1200 metres set in 2006, Island Fever over 2300 metres in 2005 and the longest one, Jin Gom Da Ri, at the seldom used distance of 2200 metres set way back in 1992.

Chris Taylor heads new jockey list

South African Chris Taylor was among eight new jockeys officially added to the roster at Seoul Race Park last week. The twenty nine year old made his debut in South Africa in 1995 but has spent much of his career racing in the middle east in Qatar and Dubai. Taylor, who has signed an initial six month contract with the KRA, will ride freelance and will take the tally of foreign jockeys currently riding in Korea to five along with Ikuyasu Kurakane and Nozomu Tomizawa at Seoul and Danny Craven and Toshio Uchida at Busan. To find out a little more about Taylor, here is an interview he gave to SAHorseracing.com back in 2006.

The seven other newcomers are all graduates of the KRA’s jockey academy. They are:

Kim Dong Min (b. 1986)
Kim Cheol Ho (b. 1987)
Park Byung Yun (b. 1987)
Park, Si Chon (b. 1983)
Yu Mi Ra (b. 1984) – Yu becomes the fourth female jockey to gain a license at Seoul
Cho In Kwon (b. 1987)

Bally Brae and Subsidy head Seoul Owner’s field

Bally Brae and Subsidy top the weights for this Sunday’s KRW 106Million first prize Seoul Owner’s Cup which will be off at Seoul Race Park at 17:00. The 2000 metre handicap, one of the biggest of the year for foreign-bred horses also features Saerounbisul, who unexpectedly beat an out-of-sorts Bally Brae last time out. Full list of runners and riders:

Seoul Owner’s Cup (G.III), 2000M – Seoul – Sunday June 22, 2008, 17:00 (Race 9)
1. Gamadongja (NZ) (9/5/1/0) – 52.5 – Nozomu Tomizawa
2. Obaek Yechan (Aus) (22/5/4/3) – 53.5 – Jun Duck Young
3. Subsidy (USA) (27/17/4/0) – 58 – Oh Kyung Hoan
4. Baekjeonmupae (NZ) (12/4/4/0) – 53 – Yoo Sang Wan
5. Angus Empire (USA) (19/6/5/0) – 54 – Kim Ok Sung
6. Clever Star (Can) (6/3/1/1) – 51 – Cho Kyoung Ho
7. Saerounbisul (NZ) (16/5/3/1) – 52.5- Park Tae Jong
8. Dongbanui Gangja (USA) (9/5/2/1) – 52.5 – Choi Beom Hyun
9. Bally Brae (USA) (21/13/5/1) – 59 – Shin Hyoung Chul
10. Dirt King (Aus) (10/5/2/1) – 53.5 – Ham Wan Sik
11. Seoul Teukgeup (USA) (10/4/4/0) – 52 – Moon Jung Kyun

Neither Bally Brae or Subsidy will have their usual jockeys – Moon Se Young being suspended over the weekend and Subsidy’s usual partner Cho Kyoung Ho riding Clever Star instead. Shin Hyong Chul rides last year’s Grand Prix winner while Oh Kyung Hoan partners the eight year old son of Mr Prospector. Disappointingly, Shaving Points, possibly the most exciting foreign bred three year old in Korea right now, doesn’t go.

Subsidy/Bally Brae to face off again?

One of the great rivalries in Korean racing may be renewed on June 22 as Subsidy and Bally Brae are among 13 declarations for the KRW 106Million first prize Seoul Owners Cup. Bally Brae has got the better of the now eight year old Subsidy – one of the last sons of Mr. Prospector still racing on the flat – however, the five year old Grand Prix winner suffered a shock reverse last time out coming third to Saerounbisul and Baekjeonmupae, both of whom are also declared. The most intriguing name on the list, however, is that of Shaving Points, the three year old with three dominant victories in three starts, possibly about to mix it with the big names for the first time. We’ll have a full preview of the 2000 metre race, once the final line-up is confirmed next Thursday.