Success Baekpa

Busan Mayor’s Cup: Preview & Form Comments for the Stayer Series Finale

It will be a battle of the best Korea has to offer as emphatic Grand Prix Stakes and Herald Business winner Clean One, the highest rated horse in the country, returns to take on the likes of Success Baekpa, Speed Young and Global Hit in the Busan Mayor’s Cup (1800M KOR-G2), the final leg of the Stayer Series, at Busan Racecourse on Sunday. SEE HERE FOR A FULL PREVIEW OF ALL 17 RACES ACROSS BUSAN AND SEOUL ON SUNDAY.

Clean One (Pic: KRA)

Clean One skipped the YTN Cup for workload management reasons with his season being geared around a successful defence of the Grand Prix at the end of November – and hopefully a tilt at the international Korea Cup in September. He’s been back in work since the very end of March and is set to be a short-price favourite. Seo Seung-un will be aboard.

Success Baekpa took the honours in the YTN Cup. It was only his eighth career win but five of those have been at Group race level and while he can mix his form, when he is good, he is undoubtedly very good.

Then there is Global Hit. It would be fair to say that the old, pre-injury, Global Hit would have probably cruised away from the field on the YTN Cup. That he managed to get within a length of peak Success Baekpa, suggests that he is far from done. Whether he has a win left in him at this level is another question though.

Speed Young is the reigning horse of the year, having got his breakthrough Group 1 success last November in the President’s Cup. Like the versatile performer he is, he dropped back to a sprinting distance to win the Listed Segye Ilbo in February before registering 4th and 3rd places in the first two legs of the Stayer Series.  Outrageously consistent, he will be in the mix again.

Gangpungma has also been around the placings in elite company over the past few months although may have let slip his best chance of a win. Wonpyeong Storm and Munhak Boy, despite the latter having a Group victory to his name, are also not entirely convincing.

Tuhonui Banseok, a two-time winner of this race, in 2023 and 2024, will reach the end of his racing career with a final run in the race

The Busan Mayor’s Cup will be run earlier than most Group races as it will be shown live on the KBS N Sports channel. It will be race 3 on the card with a local post time of 13:25. Here is a full run down of the field:

1. WONPYEONG STORM – Hasn’t lived up to his early promise and he’s struggled in elite company, most recently 12th in the Herald Business. Comes in fresh and he is one for one over 1800M with plenty of time to make it at this grade, but others are favoured.

2. GLOBAL HIT – Ran on strongly for an excellent 2nd in the YTN Cup, getting within a length of Success Baekpa. The old Global Hit would surely have run down the winner that day, but it was still a fantastic effort, and he is not to discounted from going close again.

3. YOUNG SKYWALKER – Won three in a row between November and February up to class 2 and at 1800M and 2000M but was twelve-lengths back in 6th place in the YTN, struggling late on. Has potential at the elite level but perhaps not quite yet.

4. SPEED YOUNG – Mr. Reliable, the Swiss army knife horse won the Listed Segye Ilbo over 1200M in February before 4th and 3rd place finishes in the Herald Business and YTN Cup. Tactically versatile, he will surely be in the finish again.

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SUCCESS BAEKPA FENDS OFF RESURGENT GLOBAL HIT AND SPEED YOUNG IN YTN CUP

Success Baekpa took the YTN Cup by the scruff of the neck and never let go to hold off a late challenge from two-time defending champion Global Hit to win the 2nd leg of the Stayer Series (2000M KOR-G3) at Seoul Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.

Success Baekpa holds off Glocal Hit in the YTN (Pic: KRA)

Under Jin Kyum, Success Baekpa was ridden up from the gate to sit outside pacesetter Vet Captain, taking things up in the home straight and opening up an unassailable advantage. Global Hit loomed up late and got withing a length with Speed Young and pre-race market-elect Gangpungma 3rd and 4th.

“I wanted to avoid kickback, so I was happy to go forward and then just sit outside the leader and then manage the pace” winning jockey Jin Kyum told KRBC. “After consulting with the trainer, we decided to go to the front and while I could see Global Hit coming up into my view, I never thought that we would lose.”

“The horse really showed his best today…I feel that he has grown to the next level now and I really think on this form he can win a President’s Cup.”

Trainer Min Jang-gi was also satisfied that Success Baekpa was back at his best. “As you know, he had a break after the Grand Prix when he didn’t run well – there simply weren’t any suitable races for him. I was happy with his comeback in the Herald Business, and he lifted from that today.”

Min confirmed that he will be targeted solely at the biggest races for the rest of the year. “There is nowhere for him to go in regular (handicap) races because he would have to carry 60kg. So, it will be the Graded races all the way to the Grand Prix.”

Success Baekpa [Purge – Baekpa (by Revere)] is a five-year entire who is out of a Korean oaks winner and who himself won two legs of the Triple Crown in 2024, missing out only in the Derby where he was 3rd. While Sunday’s victory was only his eighth in twenty-two starts but it was his fifth in Group company with those two classics followed up with victory in last year’s Herald Business and KRA Cup Classic.

It has been a long time since Global Hit was sent off as low as fifth in the betting (at least in a Korean race) but while the Global Hit of old would probably have cruised past Success Baekpa, he showed that he is still a top line horse, despite his injury setbacks. Speed Young did what Speed Young does and ran a very solid race for yet another placing.

As for Gangpungma, it may be that it isn’t going to happen for him at Group level He came into the race weighing almost 50kg heavier than any of the others and while he was sent off as favourite, he never looked like winning. Meanwhile Graded level proved too much just yet for Young Skywalker, with the only four-year-old in the race running an anonymous 6th, eight lengths behind the last of the top-five.

The final leg of the Stayer Series is the Busan Mayor’s Cup (1800M KOR-G2) at Busan on May 24th and it won’t be a straightforward task for Success Baekpa to follow-up as Herald Business winner and the reigning Grand Prix champion Clean One, who was kept out of the YTN Cup for workload management reasons, is expected to return.

Next week, focus turns to the filly and mare division with the Ttukseom Cup (1400M KOR-G2), the second leg of the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer.

Success Baekpa Adds Minister’s Cup to Cup Mile in Triple Crown Finale

There may be no Triple Crown winner, but Success Baekpa confirmed his place on top of the three-year-old ranks with a commanding nine-length victory in the Minister’s Cup (2000M KOR-G2) at Seoul Racecourse on Sunday afternoon. Added to his win in the KRA Cup Mile and 3rd place in the Korean Derby, Success Baekpa ran out the winner of the Triple Crown series by almost 600 points.

Success Baekpa goes clear (Pic: KRA)

True the task was made somewhat simpler for Success Baekpa at the start when World Dragon, who was set to jump as third favourite in the betting market, reared in the gate, crunching jockey Seo Seung-un into the machine. With the field backed out for a reload neither horse nor jockey was passed fit to race. That left fifteen in the race.

Hangang Class was sent off as the favourite at marginally better than even-money once World Dragon was removed from the pool, but it was outsiders Great Winner and Miracle Marine who set the early pace while Success Baekpa, the 4.5 second favourite sat behind the leaders alongside Nice Time, who began third in the market.

Into the home straight, jockey You Hyun-myung asked Success Baekpa for an effort and the Purge colt cruised clear, putting the result beyond doubt a full furlong from home. Nice Time crossed the line in 2nd place, a full nine-lengths adrift, while a further four-lengths back, Doctor Kingdom edged out the Derby winner Eunpa Sarang by a nose.

“I made a few mistakes (in the Korean Derby) but this time we were very well prepared” winning jockey You Hyun-myung told in-house broadcaster KRBC. “The draw didn’t really matter and there were no opponents that we were afraid of here. The pace was a little fast, but he showed no signs of fatigue.” When quizzed on what was next for the colt, You replied: “The aim is to come back here and win the President’s Cup.”

The President’s Cup (2000M KOR-G1) is the richest race restricted to Korean bred horses that is age open and Success Baekpa can expect to come up against Global Hit, last year’s Minister’s Cup winner. This year it will take place on October 13th. Connections may well be tempted by a tilt at the international Korea Cup in early September, although that will be a far harder ask.

You Hyun-myung salutes the crowd after the Minister’s Cup (Pic: KRA)

Success Baekpa is by Purge and out of the 2007 Korean Oaks winner Baekpa (by Revere). He was bred by Kang Seung-youn and was purchased by her owner Lee Jong-hun for KRW 90 Million at the November 2022 Yearling Sale. He moves on to a record of five wins from nine starts.

In the final standings for the Triple Crown series, Success Baekpa finished on top with 1600 points with Eunpa Sarang in 2nd with 1030. His Minister’s Cup runner-up finish saw Nice Time jump up two places to 3rd overall with 700 points.

There is no Stakes action next week in Seoul with the next big race being the Busan Owners’ Cup (1600M KOR-G3) on June 30th. The early entries comprise an intriguing mix of stayers and sprinters with Tuhonui Banseok and Eoma Eoma, as well as unbeaten import Sky Wind among twenty-two still in.

Success Baekpa Swoops To Claim Triple Crown 1st Leg

If there is to be a Triple Crown winner this year, his name will be Success Baekpa after the Min Jang-gi trained colt roared home late to sweep past Nice Time to claim the first jewel, the KRA Cup Mile (1600M KOR-G2) at Busan Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.

Last year’s champion juvenile Hangang Class was sent off as the odds-on favourite among the thirteen-strong field, but just as in the Busan Classic Trial in February, he was a touch slow coming out of the gate and was always on the backfoot from there on. Ultimately, he did well to run 3rd.

Seoul’s Classic Trial winner Nice Time set the early pace along with second-favourite Wonderful Lear. The latter was quickly beaten but Nice Time stayed on and looked set to go on to score until You Hyun-myung launched 13/1 chance Success Baekpa, who had settled well back in the pack, down the centre of the track to sweep past everything in his path and beat Nice Time by three-quarters of a length on the line.

“The horses drawn in one, two, and three (Hangang Class, Wonderful Lear and Nice Time) were so strong that I would have been very happy even to make it into the top-three, so it is a little unexpected” winning trainer Min Jang-gi told in-house broadcaster KRBC. “I instructed (You Hyun-myung) to follow the leaders from midfield and I think he made good decisions at the right time and was able to win the race.”

Accordingly, expectations have changed now for the remainder of the Triple Crown series. “Now that he has successfully passed the first hurdle, there are two races left. This horse can come from behind and pick up speed, so I think that the distances getting longer mean his winning chances increase.”

For You Hyun-myung it was a return to the Graded Stakes winning enclosure for the first time since enduring a horrible 2023 when he missed most of the season after two heavy falls resulting in multiple surgeries.

“It makes it more special because it’s my first Grand Prize since returning and my family were here today so I’m even happier” he told KRBC. “I think of winning this race as a new beginning and a reason to work even harder, starting from next week.”

You may have to wait a little longer than next week as he picked up a 2-day ban for excessive whip use. Moon Se-young on Nice Time also got a two-day ban for shifting out in the straight.

Success Baekpa is by Purge and out of the 2007 Korean Oaks winner Baekpa (by Revere). She was bred by Kang Seung-youn and was purchased by her owner Lee Jong-hun for KRW 90 Million at the November 2022 Yearling Sale. She moves on to a record of four wins from seven starts – and four in a row.

The second leg of the Triple Crown is the Korean Derby (1800M KOR-G1) at Seoul on Sunday May 12th. Next week, attention shifts to the Sprint Series and the SBS Sports Sprint (1200M KOR-G3) at Seoul on Sunday afternoon.