Donga Ilbo

Raon Forest Beats The Upstarts In Queens’ Tour 1st Leg

Changing of the guard in the filly and mare division? Not just yet, there isn’t as Raon Forest to take out the Donga Ilbo (1800M KOR-Listed), the first leg of the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer at Seoul Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.  

Raon Forest in the Donga Winner’s Circle (Pic: KRA)

The only six-year-old in the race and therefore the only one who came out of what proved to be a vintage Triple Tiara class in 2023, Raon Forest, a Queens’ Tour veteran, entered the race fourth in the market behind Breeders’ Cup Queen winner Ace High with Boryeonglightqueen and Oneuldo Smile also well supported. 

There was unfortunate drama as the gates opened with Indy Ghost going up on hind legs and the going over. Fortunately, neither she nor jockey Masa Tanaka were seriously hurt.

Oneuldo Smile did lead while defending champion Gladius was also on pace, but both were beaten early as Raon Forest, under a patient ride from Jo Jae-ro, consistently made ground on the rail, striking the front a furlong out and lengthening away to win by a full six-lengths.

Boryeonglightqueen and Satang Sonyeo appeared from the back of the field with late runs for 2nd and 3rd. Pre-race favourite Ace High never landed a blow and ended in 7th.

“I had some high hopes” winning trainer Park Jong-kon told KRBC. “Not necessarily that we would win but I had some expectations. The draw was good and while Choi Bum-hyun couldn’t ride (due to suspension), Jo Jae-ro came in and did well.”

“Raon Forest has had so many near-misses, she ran well against the males last time and today she was really good. She’ll go to the Ttukseom Cup next, in the past with her start I don’t think the 1400M would suit but she is different now.”

Raon Forest [Hansen – Raon Nari (by Ecton Park)] moved onto seven wins from thirty-one starts.

The Queens’ Tour will return on April 26th with the Ttukseom Cup (1400M KOR-G2) also at Seoul. Next weekend, it’s the turn of the three-year-olds as the Triple Crown kicks off with the KRA Cup Mile (1600M KOR-G2) – informally known as the Korean 2000 Guineas – on Sunday afternoon at Busan.

Meni Money Downs Pinot Noir In Donga Ilbo

Last year’s winner Pinot Noir put up a valiant defence of her Donga Ilbo crown but ultimately was to be denied as Meni Money came home in front  in Seoul’s second Listed Race of 2017.

With the well-fancied Touch Flying found lame and declared a non-runner less than an hour before the race, it was Meni Money who was sent off as favourite and she was kept handy by champion jockey Moon Se Young in the early stages. Meanwhile, Park Hyun Woo on Pinot Noir employed the now 7-year-old mare’s familiar tactics of dropping to the rear on leaving the gate before going wide around the field in the back straight to take the lead.

Pinot Noir would lead into the straight but Meni Money came alongside with a furlong to go and ran on to prevail by just under a length and a half. Argo Champ ran on well for 3rd.

Meni Money [Menifee-Pocketful Of Money (Running Stag)] is out of a dam who for a number of years held the track record at today’s distance of 1800M. She won five and was runner-up in five of her first ten career starts, including 2nd place in the Korean Oaks in 2015. However, since then she had only added a further two victories prior to today. Her previous biggest victory came in the 2015 Sports Seoul Cup.

Donga Ilbo Cup (Listed) – Seoul Racecourse – 1800M – Feb 19, 2017

1. Meni Money (KOR) [Menifee – Pocketful Of Money (Running Stag)] – Moon Se Young – 2.3, 1.2
2. Pinot Noir (KOR) [Capital Spending – Neungnyeokchungman (Pacificbounty)] – Park Hyun Woo – 1.6
3. Argo Champ (KOR) [Menifee – Doo Dah Day (Woodman)] – Djordje Perovic – 2.1
Distances: 1.25 lengths / 3 lengths – 9 ran

The win was one of five on the day for defending champion jockey Moon Se Young. Earlier, he won on Lion Rock (Ecton Park), a three year-old “full” brother to reigning Horse of the Year Triple Nine. Lion Rock moved to three from three with a facile victory in the 1700M race 8.

Two unbeaten records came to an end at Busan though. American Power (Ecton Park) didn’t travel especially well on his first try at a mile and gave himself too much to do in race 5, ending up in 2nd place. A race later, US import Drop The Beat (Mad Flatter) also went down to his first defeat.

Those defeats were in contrast to the showing a day earlier by Final Boss (Menifee). The champion juvenile of 2016 barely required second gear to maintain his winning streak over 1800M at Seoul:

Long Shot Yeouiju Takes Donga Ilbo Stakes

Sydney Jewelry on target again / Schlechter and Fujii score at Busan

20/1 outsider Yeouiju upset the favourites to take a narrow victory in the 16th edition of the Donga Ilbo Stakes at Seoul Race Park this afternoon.

Yeouiju and Oh Kyoung Hoan in the Donga Ilbo Winner’s Circle

The four-year old filly got the best of a tight finish to claim the prize ahead of fellow unfancied runners Chowon Yeoje and Cheondungbeonjjeok in the nine-furlong all filly and mare Stakes race.

Yeouiju now has four wins from eighteen career starts while it was a fifth Stakes victory for trainer Woo Chang Gu and a ninth for jockey Oh Kyoung Hoan who won this race last year riding Sen Girl.

Donga Ilbo Stakes – Seoul Race Park – 1800M – September 23, 2012

1. Yeouiji (KOR) [Revere – Chayu Mankkik (Pro For Sure)] – Oh Kyoung Hoan – 21.6, 4.4
2. Chowon Yeoje (KOR) [Forest Camp – Navigation (Big Sur)] – Cho Kyoung Ho – 3.3
3. Cheondungbeonjjeok (KOR) [Capital Spending – Whosis (Trempolino)] – Yoo Seung Wan – 4.3

Distances: 0.5 lengths/Nose – 14 ran

In other races at Seoul, there was another impressive win for young Aussie import Sydney Jewlery (Lion Heart-Rivendelle. The three-year old landed his fifth victory in eight career starts by taking out the 1900 metre race 10 in style.

Hitting the front on the home turn, Sydney Jewelry stretched away for a six length win in the class 2 handicap to confirm his position as one of the most exciting imports of the year.

It may be slightly too late for him to make the big end of season races – although he will surely be on the ballot paper for the season ending Grand Prix Stakes (in which the runners have to be voted in by the punting public) but if he stays sound, next year he surely will be.

Down at Busan, US four-year old Viva Ace (Macho Uno-Dancing Lake) led from gate to wire to win the feature race while earlier in the card there were wins for jockeys Gerrit Schlechter and Joe Fujii.

South African Schlechter won race 1 on debut making filly Fine Gongju (Tiz Wonderful) while Japanese rider Fujii was on target in race 3 on Marina’s Boy (Ecton Park) which, owned by Isidore Farm and trained by Peter Wolsley, was pretty much a 100% foreign winner.

Racing in Korea takes a break next weekend for the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday and returns on October 5.