Vincero Cavallo was denied a second consecutive clean sweep of the Korean Sprint Series and ultimately had to settle for 3rd as Born Dia led all the way to win the SROA Chairman’s Sprint (1200M KOR-G2) at Seoul Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.
After sending him off as the second favourite in both the first two legs of the series, punters this time finally had full faith in Vincero Cavallo, making him the 1.4 marker elect. Born Dia meanwhile was the joint second-longest shot on the board at 82.7.
From gate ten, Seo Gang-ju had a surprisingly easy time taking Born Dia across to the lead where they settled and made steady progress. Vincero Cavallo meanwhile settled midfield among a crowd of jostling horses and was quickly hemmed in on the fence.
With plenty of energy left in the home straight, Born Dia was able to keep lifting and held off the fast finishing Winner Clear by half a length, with Vincero Cavallo, who at no point in the race looked a winning chance, two lengths back in 3rd.
“I’ve worked hard since debuting, and it is nice to get the chance in a major race and to win” jockey Seo Gang-ju told KRBC after claiming his first Graded winner.
“I couldn’t be sure of the win until the very end, I knew that Vincero Cavallo and Winner Clear would be coming and that we had to stand our ground. Born Dia did that very well.”
Winning trainer Kwon Sung-ju told KRBC that the win made amends for a disappointing showing in the SBS Sports. “There is probably no faster starter (than Born Dia) at Seoul or Busan, but when she’s challenged, she has problems as happened in the previous race….Seo Gang-ju had his instructions and he carried them out perfectly and I’m really grateful to him.”
Winner Clear couldn’t quite get there although trainer Baik Kwang-yeol thought for a moment that he might. “I thought we’d won” he conceded to KRBC. “We finished strongly but the finish line came just too early. No regrets, we did our best”
As for Jo Jae-ro, beaten on Vincero Cavallo, he said his opposition’s game plan worked very well: “They broke away well, secured the lead as planned and then they managed their energy very effectively. There were a few collisions in there, a lot of bumping and I think ultimately (Vincero Cavallo) didn’t have enough left after that to show his usual sprinting performance. There were no other problems but sometimes the race doesn’t go as planned.”
Born Dia is a five-year-old mare by With Distinction and out of T P Mc G (by Flatter). T P Mc G was unraced but has also foaled multiple Korean winners such as Seungbusa and Black Mamba. The five-year-old is owned by Son Byeong-hyeon and moves on to seven wins from twenty-four starts.
Horse Racing in Korea 