The 2008 racing year at Seoul Race Park began in bright sunshine this afternoon with a competitive main race won by 15.3 shot Hwangryongsaji (Choi, Beom Hyun). The 1800 metre handicap came down to the final few metres, Choi managing to hold off Park, Tae Jong on 1.6 favorite Namchoneuijichun by a length to claim the 52Million won prize. Every race was won by a different jockey, Moon, Se Young and Yoon, Dae Keun got their usual winners as did Ikuyasu Kurakane with a winner in the last. Danny Craven had three rides but was unplaced in each. The biggest priced winner of the day was a 70.5 shot which came home in race 7 under Choi, Jung Seob.

Racing returns at 11:00am tomorrow.

A bitterly cold day at Seoul Race Park with temperatures officially hovering around -6 but with a cruel wind making the conditions much worse. Still 12 races took place and it was a good day for veteran jockey Park, Tae Jong who notched up 3 winners. The most valuable race of the day was Race 11, a race over 1400 metres worth 31Million won to the winner. It was won by the favourite Good Day ridden by Jeon, Deok Young a length ahead of Ikuyasu Kurakane on Dalkane. Other odds-on favourites Gamadongja in race 6 and Baekpa in race 12 also came home in front. The longest priced winner was Chanranhanbit in race 9 returning at 15.1 in an open race on a day when class proved vital in the freezing conditions.

Australian Danny Craven experienced his first real taste of the Korean winter with some creditable rides, his best placing being a 4th behind Baekpa in the last race of the day. Overall, the final race day of 2007 was a day dominated by the cold with a lower than average turnout – many racegoaers found it too cold even to go outside to smoke. Hopefully it will warm up for next Saturday’s card – the first of 2008.

Bumper crowd sees Bally Brae take Grand Prix
Racing returned to Seoul Racecourse Park this week after last weekend’s unplanned hiatus and a huge crowd turned out Sunday for the 12 race card, the highlight being the Group 1 Grand Prix Race. Run over 2300 metres it’s the season’s longest race and is worth 182 Million won to the winner. The five year old Bally Brae with ten wins from 17 previous starts went off the 1.5 favourite under 2007’s top jockey Moon, Se Young, in a race that also featured old-stager Flying Cat and prolific winners Myeongmun Gamun (Chun, Chang Ki) and 2005 Horse of the Year, Subsidy (Oh, Kyung Hoan). And it proved to be these three who disputed the placings. Subsidy came round the field on the back straight to open a 5 length lead, however, as they rounded the turn, Moon asked Bally Brae to quicken up, catching Subsidy on three furlongs and then opening out into the final straight winning by a comfortable 5 lengths. Subsidy battled on for second and Chun, Chang Ki brought Myeongmun Gamun home for third. Fly Queen, (Park Tae Jong) finished fourth. The start of the race had been delayed by almost 5 minutes due to Myeongmun Gamun’s refusal to go into the stalls. It was looking like the horse was going to have to be withdrawn until a last ditch attempt – or brute force of about 10 handlers – finally got the 6 year old in. The owners owe the handlers a drink as the horse went on to win 45 million won for finishing third.

So Moon, Se Young confirms his position as Korea’s top jockey with yet another big race win. Earlier in the day he’d been in the winner’s enclosure after steering Happy Hero to victory in race 5. It’s getting to the stage where Moon’s booking on a horse is enough to bring its price down a good 2 or 3 points. He’s also beginning to get his share of groupies in the paddock…

Overall a good return to racing at Seoul – big crowd, good weather, good afternoon’s sport. More next week.

Just a brief one today as it was a day of generally unspectacular racing. On the plus side, Seoul Racecourse Park was bathed in thoroughly spectacular sunshine providing a wonderful day for the above average sized crowd. Betting was competitive all day long with punters undecided on many races. Moon Se Young returned riding three favourites but each time was beaten as sure things were hard to come by. Particularly disappointing was Easy Company in race 6 which had one 2 out of its 3 previous races but failed to stay the extra 200 metres trip. Most notable performance of the day came in race 10 as the highly fancied Jeokdaejeok added to his impressive record with a comfortable win under Yoon Dae Keun.

A beautiful day at Gwacheon saw bright sunshine and a welcome return to reasonable temperatures after last week’s cold. The torrential rain on Friday afternoon resulted in heavy going and a track that looked more like mud than the usual sand. This had a predictably unpredictable effect on the form and it was a day of long-shots coming in and odds-on chances getting beaten. The most surprising result of the day came perhaps in race 10 where Wontagi Gisa – a horse with W130Million of prize money from just 9 races behind it failed to feature at all in a race won by the unfancied Jeoldae Banji under Shim Seung Tae – the tote paying 60.0 on the win. Australian Danny Craven had two rides but didn’t trouble the placings.

Sunday will see another 12 races plus the return of Moon Se Young after 2 racing days off.

Eventful day for Iku and it’s cold…very cold…
Winter arrived in a big way in Seoul this weekend. The early forecast of a high of 6C proved hopelessly optimistic as the temperature struggled to rise over freezing. This, coupled with a biting easterly wind, made it a bracing day at the races. On the track, the weekend’s big race was the “NACF Chairman’s Trophy Race” over 1800 metres and worth 67,000,000won to the winner. The 5 year old Pilseung Giwon, running in her fortieth race took the trophy under Ikuyasu Kurakane, a length and a half ahead of the odds-on favourite Morning Dance under Cho Kyoung Ho.

Ikuyasu had an eventful day, placing and winning in early races before falling on the final bend in Race 9 while riding the highly fancied Biroesonata. Placed fifth at the time, Biroesonata pulled out into the back of Magic Sarang (ridden by Oh Kyung Ho) and went over. Remarkably, from what looked like a bad tumble, both horse and jockey were straight up. Magic Sarang went on to cross the line first, however, a steward’s inquiry found Oh to have been responsible for Iku’s fall and the horse was disqualified. Hyo Bin, under Lee Sung Hwan, was promoted to first place. Iku went straight from the ambulance to the paddock for the big race clearly with a point to prove.

Overall a good day’s sport but the cold is here – and it’s going to be at least four months until the end is in sight!