Owners

New Owner Joe Dallao Teams Up With Trainer Bart Rice

Korea’s first foreign racehorse owner has been getting plenty of attention from the local media as he attended orientation for new owners at Busan this past weekend.

Joe Dallao (left) with his wife Young Sook at the Busan Racecourse stables with Bart and Pam Rice (Pic: Hankyoreh)

Joe Dallao (left) with his wife Young Sook at the Busan Racecourse stables with Bart and Pam Rice (Pic: Hankyoreh)

The Hankyoreh, Segye Ilbo and Kookmin Ilbo newspapers, among others, all carried the story of Dr. Joe Dallao making a little piece of Korean racing history. Having been based in Korea for a long time, Dallao’s path to ownership was a relatively smooth one once the Korea Racing Authority partially eased restrictions on non-Korean owners at the end of last year.

Impressed with his horsemanship and thorough business-like approach, Dallao has engaged Bart Rice as his trainer and the pair will immediately set about identifying and purchasing suitable horses with a view to start racing horses at Busan Racecourse in the late summer or early autumn.

A New York City native, Dr. Dallao has been a semi-regular fixture in the weekend crowd at Seoul Racecourse over the past few years. Having raced horses as a member of a syndicate in the US, he didn’t hesitate to strike out on his own in Korea when the opportunity arose.

The official entry of "Joseph Dallao" on the KRA's list of licensed owners

The official entry of “Joseph Dallao” on the KRA’s list of licensed owners

Dallao, who told the media that his ultimate aim is to take a Korean horse back to his hometown for the Belmont Stakes, is also known in Korea and elsewhere for successfully racing pigeons.

Joe Dallao and Bart Rice can be followed at the links below:

Dallao Thoroughbred Racing
Bart Rice Racing Stables

Korea’s New Rating System Explained

It is the year of change for horse racing in Korea. The racing calendar has been revamped, foreign ownership of racehorses has been approved (see bottom of this article) and now a new rating system is coming in.

Yeonseung Daero - (Pic: KRA)

Yeonseung Daero usually ran against foreign opposition. In future he will be the rule, not the exception – (Pic: KRA)

Of all the changes, it is the rating system that has caused – and continues to cause – the most debate within Korean racing circles as what it means is that if Korean-bred horses are to win class 1 races, they will need to beat imported opposition. 

The KRA believes this will raise the quality of Korean horses. Local breeders and some owners disagree.

Under the new system, every horse will be assigned a rating from 0-140 to accurately reflect their current ability.  The rating will determine their eligibility for races and their handicap mark.

The ratings are for use in Korea only and are not intended to mirror what a horse’s international rating would be.

Over the past couple of months horses at Class 1 and Class 2 have already been receiving a monthly rating. This will now be rolled out to all classes.

The Current System

There are six classes in Korean racing (only five are used at Busan). Within each class, all races are further split into two categories:

– Domestic: Races restricted to Korean-bred runners
– Mixed/Foreign: Races open to both Korean and Foreign-bred runners.

Horses move up in class according to points earned for winning or placing in races and prize-money won. They can never return to a lower class, regardless of recent performance.

The New System

All horses will be assigned a rating which will determine which class they are eligible to run in. With the exception of some Stakes races, such as the Korean Derby, eligibility for all Class 1 and Class 2 races will be determined solely by their assigned ratings. The rating band for each class is as follows:

Ratings table

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Summary:

– All races at Class 1 and Class 2 will be open to both Korean-bred and Foreign-bred runners
– Some races at Class 3 and Class 4 will continue to be restricted to Korean-bred runners.
– All races at Class 5 and Class 6 will continue to be restricted to Korean-bred runners.
– Horse ratings may go up or down according to recent past performance. This means that a horse may move down in class as well as up.

On the subject of foreign ownership of racehorses, they will be allowed to buy up to fifteen horses, which is the same as local owners. However, unlike the locals, foreign owners must buy four Korean-bred horses for every foreign-bred horse they wish to import to Korea. This is one reason why it has been a slightly less controversial development than might otherwise have been expected.

Some of the first batch of foreign owners will be able to start purchasing at the 2-year-old sale on Jeju Island in March.