Racing Reviews

Xicar Stalls As Wonderday Seizes Segye Ilbo Cup

Fillies took centre-stage at Seoul Race Park this afternoon and there was a shock as highly rated Aussie import Xicar came unstuck in the feature Segye Ilbo Cup.

Wonderday gets the better of Mighty Mammy to win the Segye Ilbo Cup

Making light of an unfavourable barrier draw, Xicar, who came into the race with three wins from her six starts, looked to have vindicated punters who sent her off the odds-on favourite as she appeared on the shoulder of the leaders heading into the home straight.

But then there was nothing. Xicar, so impressive in her last outing over a much further distance than today’s seven furlongs, had no sprint and it was left to 9/1 shot Wonderday to take the honours ahead of Mighty Mammy and long-shot A Wanted Affair

Wonderday, a three-year old filly bred by Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky and bought for $20,000 at the Ocala Spring Sale last year, now has three wins from her five starts. For jockey Lee Joon Chel, it was a first ever Stakes win since he made his debut as a jockey in 1999.

As for Xicar, she returned not displayng any obvious signd of injury. She’s proven already that she can compete in strong company and will no doubt be back.

Segye Ilbo Cup – Seoul Race Park – 1400M – Feb 19, 2012

1. Wonderday (USA) [El Corredor-Alpine Ice (Forestry)] – Lee Joon Chel – 9.5, 1.8
2. Mighty Mammy (USA) [After Market-Red Lifesaver (Victory Gallop)] – Shin Hyoung Chul – 2.3
3. A Wanted Affair (USA) [Ten Most Wanted-Noble Affair (Melodisk)] – Mai Beppu – 33.2

Distances: 1.75 lengths / 1.75 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Dangdae Jeonseung (CAN) 5. Fortunata (USA) 6. Raonjena (USA) 7. Teukbyeolhwanhui (JPN) 8. Xicar (AUS) 9. Winner Trophy (USA) 10. Blueband Mama (USA) 11. Worincheongang (USA) 12. Rockin Ruler (USA) 13. Golden Socks (USA) 14. Haengun Party (USA)

* Down at Busan, it was another good day for Peter Wolsley. The Australian trainer saddled Pegasus Farm’s filly Secret Whisper (Sea Of Secrets) to her seventh victory in fourteen starts in the afternoon’s feature race.

Dongbang Rose Wilts As Tamnaseontaek Takes Seoul Victory

After a barren spell of over a year, Tamnaseontaek returned to the winner’s circle at Seoul Race Park this afternoon.

The five-year-old, who competed in the Korean Derby in 2010 and has three Stakes race placings to his name, finally landed a Class 1 race by taking a narrow victory in the feature handicap.

Kim Jeong Jun looks across but Choi Bum Hyun has beaten him on Tamnaseontaek

Symphony Sonata, another who has found the going tough since breaking through to the elite level, was a battling second while former Champion filly Dongbang Rose could only manage third.

Class 1 Handicap – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – Feb 18, 2012

1. Tamnaseontaek (KOR) [War Sone-Every Michelle (Every Intent)] – Choi Bum Hyun – 4.9, 1.8
2. Symphony Sonata (KOR) [E. Dubai-First Violin (Dixieland Band)] – Kim Jeong Jun – 2.9
3. Dongbang Rose (KOR) [Volponi-Night Mary (Strike Gold)] – Choi Won Joon – 2.3

Distances: 0.75 lengths/0,75 lengths. 10 Ran

On Friday at Busan, there was a dominant win in the feature race for 5/1 chance Money Tree (Medallist). The five-year-old mare scored by seven lengths from outsider Sinheung Daejangun and favourite Tough Tiger to record her seventh career victory. It was another big success for Japanese jockey Akane Yamamoto who, for the time being, is the only foreign rider at Busan.

On Sunday the focus is on Seoul where Aussie filly Xicar (Written Tycoon) is set to be favourite for the Segye Ilbo Cup. Meanwhile at Busan, Aussie trainer Peter Wolsley is in with a shout in the feature race as his Secret Whisper (Sea Of Secrets) has strong claims in a seven furlong handicap.

Viva Cat Among The Classic Hopefuls

Viva Cat Impressive at Seoul / Eiki Bows Out with a Winner / Murphy Scores

We’re less than two months away from the KRA Cup Classic, the first leg of the Korean Triple Crown, and while the weather remains cold, things are starting to heat up in the three-year old ranks.

Viva Cat saunters to victory at Seoul this afternoon

While Busan’s Gyeongbudaero (Menifee) remains most people’s early pick for Classic glory, each week others are staking their claim. At Busan on Friday, Good Time (Yehudi) won by a visually impressive nine lengths over a mile but today at Seoul, it was the turn of Viva Cat (Creek Cat) to show why he should be taking the trip down south in early April.

Sent off as favourite against a field containing only older horses, Viva Cat was a comfortable length-and-a-half winner in a fast time over 1700 metres. The colt has now won five of his six starts while Gyeongbudaero has been beaten on both of his attempts at further than seven furlongs, albeit in slightly better company.

With the likes of Jigeum I Sungan (Ingrandire) and Cheoneun (Forest Camp) recording important wins last week, the signs so far are good for this year’s three-year old crop being more competitive than the disappointng one last year.

Down at Busan, hot favourite Tamna Ace (Thunder Gulch) scored a routine victory in the feature handicap to take his record to en wins from fourteen starts. Joe Murphy’s top rated horse Deep Desire (Jump Start) was a disappointing last in that race but there was success earlier for the American trainer as his filly De Bora (Dehere) broke her maiden in race 1.

It was Murphy’s second win of what, given that he only had seven successes in the prvious eighteen months, is looking an ever more promising 2012. Murphy himself ascribes the new positive feeling in his barn to having had an Australian trackwork rider join him in January which has made communication in training much easier. Whatever the reason, his runners are ones to follow over the next few months.

Finally at Busan it was a day of farewells for Japanese rider Eiki Nishimura. The 36-year-old completed his second stint at the track today and bowed out with a winner, partnering 3/1 shot Camilla (Menifee) to victory in race 2. Popular with just about everybody, Eiki scored a total of 13 winners from 109 rides in his four months here.

He previously rode 38 winners during 2009, including winning that year’s KRA Cup Classic on Sangseung Ilro. He will be missed.

* Next weekend, we have Stakes action at Seoul in the shape of the Segye Ilbo Cup for foreign bred fillies and mares. As ever, we’ll have all the build up here on Thursday.

Kim Gui Bae – Rare Visit To The Winner’s Circle Thirty Three Years After His First

Korea’s oldest professional Sportsman – except for a few veteran golfers – was back in the Winner’s Circle at Seoul Race Park today. However, in recent years, winning has been an all too rare experience for veteran jockey Kim Gui Bae.

Winner Again: Kim Gui Bae

Today, partnering 23/1 outsider Haetal (Volponi) in race 8, Kim produced his horse for a late run to sweep past odds-on favourite Something Good (Forest Camp) to score victory by just over a length.

It was the 49 year old’s first win of 2012. He scored seven wins in 2011 and the same number the year before. If past history is anything to go by, he’s unlikely to exceed that figure this year; those two years were his most successful out of the past twenty.

When Kim Gui Bae turned professional as a teenager in April 1979, President Park Chung Hee was in the final year of his authoritarian regime (Park would be assassinated in October that year) and horse racing in Korea was almost a different sport to what it is today. There was no Stud Book, no private ownership of horses and the pari-mutuel odds were still calculated manually for each race.

Kim Gui Bae started his career well and, throughout the 1980’s, was one of the top jockeys at the old Seoul Racecourse at Ttukseom. His biggest win came in 1986 on Po Gyeong Seon [Danseur Etoile-Leonotis (Lionhearted)] as the great New Zealand bred gelding captured his second consecutive Grand Prix Stakes. Kim rode him to six of his twenty career victories.

On that day, the jockey can’t have imagined that twenty-five years later, he would not only still be riding, but also still searching for a second Stakes win. Kim himself points to Seoul Racecourse moving from Ttukseom to Gwacheon in 1989 as being the moment his career changed for the worse. Indeed, he’s only ridden just over fifty winners at the new track over the past 23 years.

Blurry: Korean racing photography wasn't so great back in the days when Kim Gui Bae won the 1986 Grand Prix on Po Gyeong Seon

In an interview for the KRA in 2010, Kim said he never made the adjustment from racing clockwise at Ttukseom to anti-clockwise at Gwacheon. It seems a rather incredible, not to mention disappointing, excuse but the figures certainly agree with him.

Over the years his opportunities have slowly died up as new jockeys come through. When asked why he kept going instead of making more of an effort to pass the trainers’ exam and move into the barn (something which is also likely to be too late now), he simply replied that it is because he “enjoys riding.”

Despite this, Kim Gui Bae is not a jockey that punters avoid (and there are some). He can generally be relied upon to get a horse its best possible finish and its odds don’t drift because he’s riding it. Over his career, his win rate is 8.4% and longevity has made him popular; today he was welcomed back to the winner’s circle by a small group of old-time punters.

Of the current jockeys, only Park Tae Jong, Shin Hyoung Chul and Jung Pyeong Soo also rode at Ttukseom and Kim has at least eight years on all of them. While the newest generation of jockeys are undoubtedly better, there will be those who will be sad when the familiar racing colours of these four (Korean jockeys race in their own colours) disappear from the Korean track forever.

* Today’s feature race was won by second favourite Real Victor (Biwa Shinseiki-Hyunmo), scoring his second class 1 victory of the year.

* Yesterday at Busan, Lion Santa (Lion Heart-Santa Fe Strip) got back to winning ways after losing his unbeaten record at the end of last year. The four-year old US import took a two length win in the feature race and now has ten wins from eleven starts.

Sunday February 12

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:00 to 17:40
Busan Race Park: 8 races from 11:50 to 16:40

Heavy Work For Mister Park While Wolsley Trains A Treble

Singgeureounachim, Jigeum I Sungan, Cheoneun All Win At Seoul

Reigning Horse Of The Year Mister Park made his season-debut at Busan Race Park this afternoon and, despite carrying a restrictive 62Kg on his back, galloped to his eighteenth career victory on his twentieth start.

Winners Again: Mister Park and Akane Yamamoto

Punters ignored the fact that Mister Park was becoming the first horse to be assigned the new top weight – two kilos more than the previous high for allowance races – and sent the 2010 Grand Prix winner off as long-odds on favourite.

Coming out of the gate quickly under Japanese jockey Akane Yamamoto, Mister Park latched onto early pacesetter Boulougne and the two led the field by some distance until they entered the home straight.

As Bolougne weakened, there seemed a nervous moment as Mister Park found himself in front and momentarily seemed to go sideways. he recovered, however, to take victory by a length and a half from Hidden Messenger (Al Naba).

It was comfortable enough but Mister Park was slow in the straight and if he faces better horses while carrying this amount of weight, he may be more vulnerable this year.

With Akane riding Mister Park to victory and Eiki Nishimura also amongst the winners, it was a good day for Busan’s foreign contingent. However, the Japanese pair would be eclipsed by trainer Peter Wolsley’s achievements as the Australian sent out three horses – all maidens – and returned with three winners.

Treble: Peter Wolsley (Pic: Herald Media)

The first came in race 1 as Aussie bred gelding No More Ahead (All Bar One) took victory. This was immediately followed by debut-maiing Cheongchun Bulpae (Milwaukee Brew) in race 2 while another first-timer Nuri Geotap (Prime Timber) completed the treble by winning race 5.

Wolsley is well-known for being an expert at placing his horses to give them the best shot of winning within the restrictive Korean racing class system and today was the perfect example of it. His barn now has three more winners in it and it looks set to be another good season for him. Former stable jockey Park Geum Man partnered all three winners.

Up at Seoul, one of last year’s underachievers Singgereounachim (Exploit) made no mistake in the feature race, holding off determined challenges from Mr. Rocky and Andy’s Runner to record a narrow victory. The colt was third in the Korean Derby last year and could be set to finally live up to his potential this year.

Speaking of the Derby, we are exactly two months away from the first Classic of the season. Today, a colt and a filly who are expected to be involved in the KRA Cup Classic down in Busan at the beginning of April, were in action.

Both of them were trying their luck around two turns of the Seoul track for the first time and both of them were successful. First up was the colt, Jigeum I Sungan (Ingrandire). Against a weak field, he was sent off the odds-on favourite and he cruised to an eight length win over 1700 metres.

Cheoneun and Park Tae Jong hold off King Fighting and Jo In Kwen at Seoul

Two races later and a step up in class, things were tougher were Cheoneun (Forest Camp) who went off as the 3/1 second favourite. She put in an impressive performance. Under Park Tae Jong, she made all and held off a strong challenge from favourite King Fighting in the final furlong to claim her fifth win in seven starts.

While she’ll need to get quicker if she’s to compete in the Classics, she’ll be one to watch out for as the road to the Triple Crown starts to really get going in the forthcoming weeks.

Geumbi Gets The Glory At Last

She was a Stakes runner-up on three occasions last year but today at Seoul Race Park, Geumbi was a Class 1 winner at last.

Geumbi and Moon Se Young Return Winners at Seoul

The Segye Ilbo Cup, The Owners’ Trophy and the Gwacheon Mayor’s Cup all ended in second place finishes for Geumbi as she went through 2011 without a win but never being lower than third in her six starts.

She began 2012 finishing fourth to Jumong last month and today was sent off as second favourite in the feature race to the same horse.

However, this time Jumong (Johar) was carrying an extra 3Kg. It proved to be too much for the five-year old. Geumbi (Ecton Park) broke last of the full field of fourteen but, under a perfect ride by Moon Se Young, was kept on the rail throughout and quickened as they entered the home straight before eventually running out as winner by a length and a half from Jewang Tansaeng (Petionville).

This may have been her first win since the autumn of 2010 but it was Geumbi’s fifth triumph from fifteen career starts and she has never been out of the money. A big year could lie ahead.

On the subject of big years, it seems almost certain that Champion jockey Moon Se Young is going to have another one. Although he had to wait until race 7 to get off the mark today, he was in imperious form, winning a further two to take his total for the season to sixteen.

Seungniuihamseong gives Moon Se Young the second of his three wins

As has been mentioned on this blog time and again recently, the standard of riding at Seoul is getting better all the time and Moon is doing his part to make sure the bar the newcomers need to reach is being set higher and higher.

Finally today, a mention for five-year old Seolmaseolma (Sunday Well). She went into today’s final race a 36/1 outsider having failed to triumph in any of her previous twenty-seven starts. The tiny little mare made a mockery of those odds by swooping late to grab her first ever victory by a full length. Sometimes in this game, persistence pays off.

Tomorrow sees attention turn to Busan as the record-breaking Mister Park makes his season debut, carrying a back-busting 62.5Kg in the track’s feature. Meanwhile at Seoul, colt Magnifique will be looking for his fourth straight win in the feature race while Classic hopeful Cheoneun makes her first attempt at the Derby distance of 1800M. It promises to be another fascinating day.

Sunday February 5

Seoul Race Park: 11 races from 11:00 to 17:40
Busan Race Park: 8 races from 11:50 to 16:40

Ace Galloper Does His Job

Dangdae Bulpae Beaten / Sad sub-plot to Seoul’s Feature

Four horses came into Sunday’s feature races at Seoul and Busan with high expectations. Only one could live up to them.

Ace Galloper and Park Tae Jong return as winners

At Busan, both Dangdae Bulpae and Jeonseong Sidae found themselves on the wrong end of a blanket finish but at Seoul Ace Galloper came out with his head held high after a battling win which saw champion mare Top Point well beaten.

Dangdae Bulpae (Biwa Shinseiki) hadn’t raced since successfully defending his President’s Cup crown in November and he was sent off the slight favourite ahead of Aussie import Jeonseong Sidae (Stromberg Carlson).

As they entered the home straight it was these two who looked set to battle out the finish. However, they reckoned without a late challenge on the outside from old warrior Yeonseung Daero (Creek Cat) and, even more surprisingly, 21/1 outsider Full Forest (Full Mandate) who ultimately got the decision in a tight five-way finish.

It was a disappointing start to 2012 for Dangdae Bulpae, a horse who was undoubtedly the outstanding Korean bred competitor of last year. For Full Forest, a veteran US bred six-year-old, it was the biggest of six wins from thirty-five career starts.

Up at Seoul, KRA Cup Classic winner Ace Galloper (Chapel Royal) didn’t have things all his own way but ultimately came out on top of a very competitive handicap. Main rival Top Point (Tom Cruiser), the champion mare of 20111 disappointed but Blue Pin (Lion Heart) pushed Ace Galloper all the way to the line, the margin of victory being just a neck on the line.

Ace Galloper and Blue Pin have the kind of connection that only horse racing – for all its joys and all its heartbreaks – can give. Ace Galloper, who is now five-years old, was not an especially impressive two-year-old.

However, in his second start, on July 25, 2009, he finished second – a very distant second – to a horse called Northern Ace. They were racing over five furlongs that day and Northern Ace, a ten-length winner, broke the track record. Tragically, Northern Ace (Didyme) went on to fatally break-down during the Korean Derby in May 2010.

Northern Ace was the first Korean bred foal out of mare Telegraph Road (Royal Academy). Champion Belt, currently one of Busan’s top horses was the second. When she arrived in Korea in early 2006 though, she was in foal to Lion Heart. That foal would be called Blue Pin.

Today we salute Ace Galloper who is a truly a great champion. But we also remember Northern Ace. And all those others whose potential was cruelly taken away.

Too Smart By Far

Smarty Moonhak Beats Dongbanui Gangja By Ten Lengths

He announced his arrival by winning the Turkey Jockey Club Trophy before going on to stun Korean racing fans by not only becoming the first two-year old to run in the Grand Prix Stakes but managing to finish third. Today, just six weeks later, Smarty Moonhak [Smarty Jones-Madeira M’Dear (Black Tie Affair)] was back in the Seoul Race Park winner’s circle.

Smarty Moonhak, with Dongbanui Gangja in the background - this was about as close as the double Grand Prix winner got to him

Despite there being thirteen horses lining up for the 2000M handicap, it was billed as a match-race. Dongbanui Gangja, the two-time Grand Prix Stakes winner and former Horse Of The Year and at seven-years-old, still a formidable contender, against the now three-year old Smarty Moonhak. In the end, it was a mismatch.

After a slow start, Dongbanui Gangja (Broken Vow-Maremaid) came around the field in the back straight to take the lead. At one point he had three lengths on the field but, rounding the home-turn, Smarty Moonhak, shrugging off some bumping like an old pro, was asked to quicken slightly and the gap closed almost immediately.

Another reminder as they entered the home straight and the young colt was away. The distance n the line was ten lengths but it could have been more had jockey Shim Seung Tae decided it was absolutely necessary.

Dongbanui Gangja held on for a comfortable second place while long-shot Wind King (Montjeu) was third.

Smarty Moonhak now moves onto five wins from seven starts and a quarter of a million dollars in the bank. His two losses came in his racecourse debut and in the Grand Prix. Where he goes from here though is open to question. If he stays sound, his handicap mark is likely to quickly rise – he carried 57Kg today – and, just like Dongbanui Gangja and Bally Brae before him, he could find himself essentially eliminated from the handicap division.

While his next couple of appearances will almost certainly be in handicaps, the main focus is going to have to be on the few Stakes and Conditions races that are open to foreign-bred horses. The Busan Metropolitan, the KRA Cup Classic and ultimately of course, the Grand Prix are the most likely targets for this year. In the course of this campaign, he will almost certainly run into Mister Park and Tough Win.

It says something about the impact he has had that just one race into his three-year old season, those two are the only rivals on the peninsula that Smarty Moonhak has unfinished business with. He is, of course, yet to meet two-time President’s Cup winner Dangdae Bulpae but this too is likely to happen. On today’s evidence, they are all likely to suffer the same fate as Dongbanui Gangja

Class 1 Handicap – Seoul Race Park – 2000M – January 28, 2012

1. Smarty Moonhak (USA) [Smarty Jones-Madeira M’Dear (Black Tie Affair)] – Shim Seung Tae – 1.3, 1.0
2. Dongbanui Gangja (USA) [Broken Vow-Maremaid (Storm Bird)] – Moon Se Young – 1.4
3. Wind King (NZ) [Montjeu-Blessing (Sir Tristram)0] – Jo In Kwen – 15.9

Distances: 10 lengths/1.5 lengths
Also Ran: 4. Larrycat (USA) 5. Necromancer (JPN) 6. Celebrate Tonight (USA) 7. Baekjeonmupae (NZ 8. Indian Secret (USA) 9. Out And About (USA) 10. Royal Missile (USA) 11. Mr. Loving Life (USA) 12. Yaho Cat (USA) 13. Adam One (USA)

60/1 Deep Desire Gives Joe Murphy Unlikely First Winner Of 2012

A fortnight ago, it took a 50/1 winner to get Aussie Peter Wolsley off the mark for 2012. Today it was the turn of the only other foreign trainer in Korea, American Joe Murphy, to get his first of the year with an even longer priced victor as Deep Desire swooped late to land the feature race at Busan.

Sent off at odds of 64/1 and under jockey Lee Hee Cheon, Deep Desire hit the front deep inside the final furlong to take a half-length win from fellow outsider Money Tree while early leader Tough Tiger battled on for third.

Deep Desire (Jump Start) is a five-year old gelding who, at one stage during his three-year-old season, looked to heading for the very top. Instead he has become a solid handicapper and today recorded his eighth win in twenty-eight lifetime starts. His last victory came in September last year – a success that was until today, his trainer’s most recent too.

The win is just Murphy’s eighth in his eighteen months in Korea and while it was, in terms of prize-money, the trainer’s biggest in Korea, it may be that the morale boost to his barn at getting off to a great start for the year ends up being worth far more than the money.

As an interesting footnote to the win, Deep Desire’s owner, Yoo Su Tae, has three horses stabled with Murphy as well as others elsewhere. Remarkably one of those others is second-placed Money Tree. One wonders if, in addition to the prize-money, the owner had a few won on the exacta which paid out at 2544/1.

Sunday Round-Up: Moon Se Young Brings His Wife To Work

Moon Se Young was presented with the 2011 Jockey Championship Trophy at Seoul Race Park on Sunday…by his wife.

2011 Prize-Winners: Trainer Shin Woo Chul (left with check), Tamna Saryo CEO Yoon Tae Hyeon (owner of Tough Win, centre), Champion Jockey Moon Se Young and Ace Galloper's owner Shin Joon Soo (right)

KRA TV Announcer Kim Ryeo Jin, who also happens to be Mrs Moon Se Young, was the surprise presenter of the award to her husband who racked up 105 wins last year to claim his second Seoul Jockey Championship.

Also receiving awards were Champion Trainer Shin Woo Chul, as well as connections of Seoul’s best two horses of the last year. Grand Prix Stakes winner Tough Win claimed the overall Horse Of The Year prize, Tamna Feed Company CEO Yoon Tae Hyeon picking up the award, while KRA Cup Classic winner Ace Galloper won the prize for Korean bred horses for owner Shin Joon Soo.

On the track, Champion Moon notched another two winners but he couldn’t take out the feature race which was won by Ham Wan Sik (who landed a treble) on Japanese five-year-old Real Victor (Biwa Shinseiki) who upset hot favourite Cheonun.

Cheonun was runner-up in the 2010 Korean Oaks and it seems likely that a similarly named filly could be making an impact on the Triple Crown races this year. Cheoneun (Forest Camp) began her three-year old career in the very last race on Sunday, scoring a comfortable two-length win over seven furlongs. That takes her record to four wins from six starts and she’ll be one to watch as the year progresses.

She's not going to believe you bought those so don't even try.

It’s not just horses we need to watch as the year progresses. Moon Se Young may be champion jockey now but there is plenty of talent coming up behind him.

Chief among those seems to be Jo In Kwen, who won Saturday’s big handicap on Jumong and Jang Chu Yeol, who is yet to open his account this year. A year behind them though is first-year apprentice Seo Seung Un. Seo won twice on Sunday and looks in good shape to ride out his apprenticeship (reach 40 winners) quicker than any Korean jockey before him.

For now though, Moon Se Young can content himself with being the best at what he does whilst being one of the richest sportsmen in the country. And married to a TV presenter.

* It was a good start to 2012 for Japanese jockey Makoto Noda. After being without a win in the final two months of last year, he landed successes on both Saturday and Sunday.