A field of ten will line up for this coming Sunday’s KNN Cup Handicap at Busan Race Park. The weights are headed by Procyon (9 wins/14 runs), the four year old gelding looking for a fifth straight win although if he were to take the KRW 77Million first prize, it would be the biggest win of his career to date. Chae Gyu Jun rides. Second weight is Areumdaun Jilju (7/11), making her first appearance since February, followed by the less prolific Haeil (3/21) and Yeoin Cheonguk (5/26). Former star three year-old Mirae Cheonsa (9/17) also goes but is yet to place in five races in a to date disastrous four year old season whereas Seongsan Daegun (3/19) has never been out of the placings in six outings in 2008. Lower in the weights are two horses who won tidy handicaps last time out in the shape of Distance Runner (5/18 ) and Annika Queen (5/16). Rounding out the field are Hangryong (3/17) and Magic Moment (5/15). The 1400 metre KNN Cup is race 5 on Sunday and comes under orders at 15:35.
News
J.S. Hold to return on Sunday
Last year’s triple crown winner J.S. Hold is one of 12 set to line up in this Sunday’s feature race at Seoul Race Park. Final declarations will be published tomorrow but the for year old is scheduled to line up in race 10, a 1900 metre handicap.
We;ll have a full preview of the holiday weekend’s cards tomorrow but other than J.S. Hold, the highlight is on Friday afternoon at Busan where there will be a rerun of May’s Gukje Sinmun Cup when winner Angle Slam goes up against second placed Golding.
Japanese riders extend contracts
Both Ikuyasu Kurakane and Nozomu Tomizawa have signed six month extensions to their contracts at Seoul Race Park. The new deals will see Ikuyasu continue until the end of December and Nozomu until the end of January next year. Ikuyasu currently has a record of 42 wins from 508 rides and Nozomu 18 from 338.
Meanwhile, various media have reported that South African jockey Chris Taylor will become the third overseas rider at Seoul.
An Byung Ki retires from the saddle
One of the most senior figures in the paddock, An Byung Ki is retiring as a jockey at age 42. Making his debut at Ttukseom in 1984, An went on to record figures of 5501 rides with 770 winners, 648 seconds and 579 thirds. He won a number of cup and group races throughout his career with the highlight being winning the 1997 Grand Prix race on P’Ulgeurim, one of the dominant horses of 1997-98. An’s last race was on Sunday with a seventh placed finish on Sudden Attack in race 4. His last winner cam on Saturday May 17 when Lucky Mountain in race 6 gave him the second leg of a double and leacing him with a career win strike rate of 14.0% and a place rate of 25.8%. An will now take up a trainer’s licence. Here is a video of his 1997 Grand Prix win on P’Ulgeurim.
Jockey’s Championship / New jockeys update
Moon Se Young recorded four wins over the weekend to move onto 56 winners for the year so far. Moon won race 1 and 10 on both Saturday and Sunday. Cho Kyoung Ho scored one winner on Saturday before picking up an injury in race 4 on Sunday ruling him out of his remaining rides. The Japanese contingent was in good form on Sunday with Ikuyasu Kurakane winning two, including on Shaving Points, and Nozomu Tomizawa winning one.
Japanese jockey Toshio Uchida has been added to the roster at Busan Race Park. The 47 year old is set to make his debut as early as next week. Meanwhile at Seoul, American Kevin Radke, who competed in last November’s international jockey’s challenge is scheduled to join full-time having been granted a licence last month. He is yet to appear on Seoul’s official list, however. The current foreign duo at Seoul, Ikuyasu and Nozomu will finish their initial year at the end of June and July respectively. There will also be a new intake of graduates from the KRA’s jockey school. We’ll have a full list of the newcomers, both Korean and overseas over the next week or so.
1. Moon Se Young 56
2. Cho Kyoung Ho 49
3. Park Tae Jong 25
4. Ikuyasu Kurakane 20
5. Shim Seung Tae 19
J.S. Hold on the way back?
Last year’s triple crown winner J.S. Hold, who hasn’t run since winning the Minister of Agriculture Cup last October, is on his way back to fitness. The horse has been suffering from Tendinitis which caused him to miss the end of year Grand Prix and many have doubted whether he would emerge as a four year old. J.S. Hold reportedly ran at racing speeds in sessions on the track during last week and a return to racing is on the cards. His injury is similar to that suffered by Baekgwang last year – Baekgwang returned to finish second in the Ttukseom Cup in April only to suffer a re-occurence which has sidelined him for another year – so further injuries are a big concern. Also set to return is Ganghomyeongjang, who finished only half a length behind J.S. Hold in the Minister’s Cup. Both horses finished four lengths clear of the star performer of this year so far, Namchonuijijon.
Weekend Round-Up
Korean Derby video online / Moon’s lead down to four / Challanhanbit wins / Hannam Daegyo wins at Busan
A video of yesterday’s Korean Derby is now online. The conditions during the race make identification of some of the horses difficult at times.
Cho Kyoung Ho managed to narrow the gap at the top of the Jockey’s table slightly by scoring four wins over the weekend to Moon Se Young’s two. Moon now has 52 with Cho on 48. Shim Seung Tae’s win in the Derby on Ebony Storm was quickly followed by another in race 10 on another outsider, Bernie C (16.6). The third-placed horse in the Derby, Namdo Jijon, was ridden by Kim Ok Sung, a late replacement for Ham Wan Sik who picked up a late injury and had to give up all his weekend rides. Shim moves into joint fourth place. It was a good weekend for Boo Min Ho, who marked his hundredth ride on Saturday with his third winner – and then picked up his fourth on Sunday with a win on Colosseum (7.5) in race 2.
Sunday’s handicap came before the Derby when the track was slightly less wet. It was won by Challanhanbit (2.4) for Cho Kyoung Ho. Sunday’s feature race at Busan, where in stark contrast to Seoul, there was beautiful sunshine for much of the afternoon, was won by second favourite Hannam Daegyo (5.4) a head in front of top-weight and favourite Seongsan Daegun (2.3).
Seoul Jockey’s Championship
1. Moon Se Young 52
2. Cho Kyoung Ho 48
3. Park Tae Jong 24
4. Ikuyasu Kurakane; Shim Seung Tae 18
It’s wet for Derby Day
Derby day has arrived and it’s raining. There have been showers overnight and it is now forecast to develop into a persistant light rain throughout the afternoon which means that come 17:05 the track may have quite a bit of water in it. The morning tipsheets are mostly backing Rainmaker to take the Derby with some support for two of the other Busan horses Gaesan Janggun and Jeolho Chance. There’s some place support for Magic Victor and Mighty Galloper.
Fourteen line-up for Derby
The final fourteen for the Korean Derby which will be run at Seoul Race Park on Sunday has been announced. A sixth horse from Busan has been added, Gaeseon Janggun, second in last month’s KRA Cup Mile will take his place, ridden by Park Tae Jong. Unlike in the Cup Mile, all the visiting challengers will be ridden by Seoul based jockeys, lack of track knowledge being one of the reasons cited for the poor performance of Seoul horses at Busan. Gaeseon Janggun arrived in Seoul earlier this week to join the others who have been at the track for two weeks now. Cup Mile winner Rainmaker heads the field and will be ridden by Moon Se Young. There are two fillies, Busan’s Jeolho Chance and Seoul’s Samsimnyeonsarang. The Korean Derby is race 9 on Sunday with a post time of 17:05. Here’s a full list of runners and riders:
18/5/2008 – Korean Derby (G1) – 1800 metres (17:05)
1. Magic Victor -9/2/2/1- Shin, Hyung Cheol
Finished second to Mighty Galloper last time when favourite over 1700 meters.
2. Cheongnyenuigisang (Busan) -7/3/0/0- Choi, Beom Hyun
After an indifferent year as a juvenile, he’s won three from three this year.
3. Mighty Galloper -8/3/1/1- Yoo, Sang Wan
Has won two in a row including over 1700 metres last time out.
4. Samsimnyeonsarang (f) -7/3/2/0- Lee, Dong Kuk
A disappointing eleventh in the KRA Cup mile but won her last two outings at Seoul over shorter distances.
5. Hammer Punch -8/3/1/0- Choi, Jung Seob
Showed a lot of promise in his early races but finished 13th in the KRA Cup Mile and never figured in his one run since.
6. Gaeseon Janggun (Busan) -6/2/1/1- Park, Tae Jong
Second in the KRA Cup Mile.
7. Jeolho Chance (f) (Busan) -8/4/1/1- Kim, Hyo Seob
Third in the KRA Cup Mile. Finished fourth to Boryeong Bulbit in a handicap over the distance.
8. Ebony Storm (Busan) -10/4/0/3- Shim, Seung Tae
A mixed record but is in form winning a decent handicap last time out.
9. Cheonnyeonbulpae -6/2/3/0- Cho, Kyoung Ho
Only one bad race, otherwise always in the top two. Finished second to Chaser over the distance in April
10. Namdo Jijon (Busan) -7/1/4/0- Ham Wan Sik
Finished fourth in the KRA Cup Mile and second to Rainmaker in his previous outing.
11. Rainmaker (Busan) -6/3/3/0- Moon, Se Young
Never outside the top two finishers and won the KRA Cup Mile last time out.
12. Dunamjae -9/3/2/0- Moon, Jung Kyun
Won his last race and finished second to the impressive Suseong TX before that.
13. Arcane -6/3/0/0- Oh, Kyung Hoan
Won three in a row before stepping up to 1700 metres last time, finishing sixth.
14. Daejanggun -9/4/0/2- Woo, Chang Gu
Finished tenth in the KRA Cup Mile but twice a winner over 1700 metres.
Seoul Race Park re-development underway
Work has begun on remodelling the interior of the “Happyville” grandstand of Seoul Race Park. Over the next 16 months, the entire grandstand will be extensively redeveloped to bring its facilities in-line with the neighbouring “Luckyville” grandstand. The work affected race-goers for the first time over the past weekend with the southern half of the stand being closed. Work on this section will continue until the end of December, when the Northern half will be closed with completion of the whole project scheduled for August 2009. The closure means fewer betting windows open although the KRA will open windows in Luckyville that are not currently in use on major race-days such as next week’s Korean Derby. The outdoor seats remain open along the whole length of the stand.
The start of the work coincided with the KRA opening an exhibition on the 1st floor of Luckyville celebrating “100 years of Korean Horse Racing” (which will come as a surprise to visitors to the history section of the KRA’s website).
Horse Racing in Korea 