 Korea Expert - Alastair Middleton |
|
|---|---|
| Alastair Middleton, a British living in Seoul since 2006. With his passion in horse racing, he started his racing blog in 2007 which immensely popular with fans around the world trying to learn more about Korean racing. Alastair is familiar with Korean racing that providing racing insights for its races on his blog, like racecard, race-preview in English. He is currently appointed by Korea Racing Authority as the English-language racecaller for the races at Seoul and Busan. | |
Expert Column for Korea Sprint (S1-1) & Korea Cup (S1-2) (Alastair Middleton)
S1-1 Korea Sprint
Hong Kong’s SUPER JOCKEY was just too good when cruising to victory by four-lengths in the inaugural Korea Sprint a year ago. There is a fifteen line-up for this year’s renewal on the sand of Seoul Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.
With the withdrawal of France-trained CITY MONEY, there are just four overseas contenders. If the trophy is to be Hong Kong bound once more then it’s up to LUCKY YEAR. The Danny Shum-trained 6YO arrives in Korea having rounded out last season at home with a very good win in the G3 Sha Tin Vase over this distance in May. It was the kind of run, getting very close to the early pace, that would be ideal here and he’s got the perfect draw, coming out of gate 4, to do it. It won’t be easy for him to get to the lead though.
Japanese-trained horses haven’t tended to have the best of luck in Korea Sprint but GRACEFUL LEAP, a solid dirt-track horse in the JRA and with Yutaka Take making his Korean debut in the saddle, must be respected. Likewise THE TRUTH OR ELSE, who becomes the first US-trained horse to run in Korea, can’t be completely ruled out coming out of gate 1. Kenneth McPeek’s 5YO won the Listed contest at Gulfstream Park in April and subsequently performed well at Churchill Downs in the early summer. However, his closing style may not be in his favour here.
The final visitor is Singapore-trained WIMBLEDON, who represents the China Horse Club, and he won’t be without backers. He’s a consistent type with the only question mark being how he takes to the sand track – though usually a turf horse, he did run well on the Kranji polytrack over this distance earlier this year.
That brings us on to the locals and it could well be their year. The leading Korea-trained contenders, POWER BLADE and PERDIDO POMEROY drew the two widest gates but that may not actually be the calamity it first seems. POWER BLADE wasn’t likely to lead anyway while PERDIDO POMEROY, who led this race last year, is so quick out of the gate that he will probably still get to the front along with BEOLMAUI KKUM. Last year’s Triple Crown winner and place-getter at the Dubai World Cup Carnival meeting, POWER BLADE was fourth in the Korea Cup last year and drops back to this distance for the first time in a long time but he enters in top shape and looks to have every chance. He can defy the track and win from behind.
PERDIDO POMEROY himself is in much better form than when he was fifth behind DORAONPOGYEONGSEON in the KOR G3 contest here at the same distance in June. DORAONPOGYEONGSEON got up late to win that race in a three-way photo finish and is nicely drawn in gate 2. SILVER WOLF probably wants further but there’s no denying she’s in great form while GASOKBULPAE could be the wildcard. He briefly held the track record for this distance last month and if he gets the lead, anything can happen.
As for the rest, TOHAMSAN is in good form but this is stiff for him while the trio of DROP THE BEAT, HAEYA and OPEN THE SKY all remain relatively unexposed. DROP THE BEAT especially turned in two eye-catching performances recently and could make for an interesting outside prospect. ZENTENARY on the other hand, is overmatched.
It’s a fascinating race with a case to be made for almost all. We’ll go for POWER BLADE to beat the track, the draw and fourteen very competitive rivals.
SELECTIONS: 14. POWER BLADE, 4. LUCKY YEAR, 7. GRACEFUL LEAP, 15. PERDIDO POMEROY & 6. DROP THE BEAT
WINNING REGION (COMPOSITE WIN) SELECTION: KOREA (C1)
S1-2 Korea Cup
Twelve months ago CHRYSOLITE absolutely romped home to win the first ever running of the Korea Cup by as many lengths as his jockey chose. He returns here as likely favourite to retain his crown.
CHRYSOLITE has been lightly raced since then but comes in here with a win and two second places from his three 2017 outings and he is the one to beat. There is a chance though, that he won’t get it all his own way. The race set up beautifully for him last time with a good draw and an early leader going too fast. The draw is not quite as ideal this time and the others will be very aware of him but nevertheless, if you beat CHRYSOLITE, you are likely to be the winner. Yutaka Take comes to Korea for the first time specifically to ride him.
The only one drawn wider than CHRYSOLITE is LONDON TOWN. He was very impressive when breaking the 1,700m track record at a sloppy Sapporo a month ago and could well be his compatriot’s biggest danger.
Any Hong Kong-trained horse warrants respect and that certainly includes CIRCUIT LAND. After recent near misses on firmer ground at Sha Tin, it’s possible that he could be one of those horses who gets on well with the deep sand of Seoul. Under Nash Rawiller, he’s firmly in the hunt.
NIMR and SKIPERIA are both trained in France with the former looking to have the better claims although SKIPERIA has looked well in work. The USA representative is the Linda Rice-trained PAPA SHOT, who spent the summer running creditably at Belmont Park and Saratoga and despite perhaps needing to find a bit to compete with the horses from Hong Kong and Japan, he can give a good account of himself.
As for the Koreans, last year’s third place-getter TRIPLE NINE returns once more. Except for an always unlikely tilt at the G2 Godolphin Mile, he ran well at the Dubai World Cup Carnival but has come up short on two starts back in Korea since. Both times he took just a little too long to get properly into gear. If jockey Lim Sung Sil can get him stoked up in time, a money finish is possible. CHAMP LINE saw a winning streak of five come to an end behind TRIPLE NINE in July. He’s been off since and we’ll give the Thomas Patrick Gillespie-trained colt another chance today.
SHAMROCKER goes well too but does look overmatched against the visitors while since returning from a long spell out injured. BOLD KINGS hasn’t been quite the same horse he was when winning the Grand Prix Stakes, Korea’s most prestigious non-international race as a 3YO. Rounding out the field, DYNAMIC JILJU is a decent handicapper and could well opt to lead but is up against it here.
Overall, it is CHRYSOLITE’s to lose but lose it he could with LONDON TOWN and CIRCUIT LAND most likely to take advantage.
SELECTIONS: 11. LONDON TOWN, 3. CIRCUIT LAND, 10. CHRYSOLITE, 6. TRIPLE NINE & 5. CHAMP LINE
WINNING REGION (COMPOSITE WIN) SELECTION: JAPAN (C3)
Disclaimer:
The above content and information are the personal views and/or opinions of each individual writer and do not represent the views of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and/or its subsidiaries (together, the "HKJC"). The content and information are provided by the writers solely for entertainment purpose only, and should not be construed as a suggestion for anyone to place any bet nor should they be taken and/or relied upon as advice of any kind. The above content and information have not been verified, confirmed and/or endorsed by HKJC and HKJC shall not be liable to any person for any loss or damage suffered by such person as a result of any use or reliance of the above content or information.
HKJC shall not be required to give and does not give any warranty, whether express or implied, arising out of or in connection with the content or information. The Club disclaims any responsibility and accepts no liability (whether in tort, contract or otherwise) for any direct or indirect loss of damage arising from any inaccuracies, omission or typographical errors that may be contained therein. The Club also does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or fitness for purpose of any such information.
