Champion jockey Cho Kyoung Ho took a dramatic fall in front of the grandstand at Seoul Race Park this afternoon.
Odds-on favourite Raon Speed rears up to throw champion jockey Cho Kyoung Ho to the ground
Cho was due to partner Raon Speed in race 7, but as soon as they appeared on the track to canter to the start, the odds-on favourite decided he didn’t fancy a race today and threw the Champion to the ground twice.
Cho was able to stagger across to the unsaddling enclosure
The second time, Cho took a heavy fall and was treated on the side of the track for some minutes but eventually, and fortunately, was able to make it into the ambulance unassisted.
Despite taking a very heavy fall, Cho was able to make his own way into the ambulance
Up until then, Cho had been having a good weekend with a treble on Saturday and another winner today helping him increase his lead over Moon Se Young at the top of the Jockey championship. Moon took advantage late on today to score victory on Grand First [Salt Lake – Grand Meeting] in the second of co-feature races. The first of the co-features was won by Kim Hae Sun on Special Day [Congaree- – Mon Cherie]. It was the second leg of a double for Kim who is now looking set to become the first Korean female to establish herself among the elite thoroughbred jockeys on the peninsula.
Beaten: Cheonnyeon Daero
It was down at Busan where the main headline on the track was made. 2010 Korean Derby winner Cheonnyeon Daero [Creek Cat – Doneitmyway] was taking on a field full of imported horses but nevertheless was still sent off as the long-odds on favourite. It wasn’t to be, however, as second favourite Viva Ace [Macho Uno – Dancing Lake], who was always handy throughout, ground down the former Classic winner in the final furlong and raced away to record a two and a half-length victory.
Cheonnyeon Daero remains stuck with a less than impressive win record – only 7 from 24 starts – this was his 11th second place. As for Viva Ace, it was his first win at class 1 and his 6th in total from 10 career starts.
Next week sees the final weekend of evening racing and a big one it is too. The YTN Cup is the highlight and will be the final race of the International Jockey Challenge which takes place over four races on Saturday and Sunday. Australia’s Dwayne Dunn, Ireland’s Rory Cleary and South Africa’s Aldo Domeyer are among the six jockeys set to make up the international team. We’ll have a full preview later in the week.
Lights On: The field mills around under the lights at the 1700 metre start
Horse Racing in Korea 
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