Seoul Racecourse Park
Directions
Seoul Racecourse Park is located next to Seoul Grand Park in the southern Seoul suburb of Gwacheon. To get there, take subway Line 4 to Seoul Racecourse Park station, leave by exit 2 and follow the crowd down the covered walkway to the track.
History
Gwacheon is Seoul Race Park’s third home. In the early part of the 20th century, races were held in Sinseol-dong near Dongdaemun. After the Korean War, a racetrack was constructed at Ttukseom on the north bank of the River Han, where Ttukseom Resort is currently located. Ttukseom was home to racing for 36 years, however, in 1988 the Olympic Games were held in Seoul and the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) was given the task of organising the Equestrian events. They purchased the site in Gwacheon and after the games, it was converted into a racetrack with the first race taking place in autumn 1989. The KRA’s website has a good section on the history of racing in Korea including a picture of the old Sinseol-dong race track and on the second floor of the Luckyville grandstand there is a small photo gallery showing the history of racing in Seoul.
The Track and Facilities
Races are held on an oval-shaped artificial track with a two furlong home straight. The track can accommodate around 80,000 people and has two main grandstands, the older “Happyville” near the winning line and the newer “Luckyville” which are joined together and cover the entire home straight. There is a “Foreigner’s Lounge” on the fourth floor of Luckyville which provides a great view over the entire course and has an information desk with English language race-cards and guides on how to bet. In the centre of the track there is a “family park” with pony rides, water slides etc. Entrance to the track is just 800 won. There are two self-service restaurants in the grandstands serving standard Korean food priced between 3000-6000 won. There are also numerous kiosks both inside and outside selling Korean lunchboxes, mandu, and general snacks and drinks. Alcohol is not allowed in the track and the buildings are all no-smoking. From May 2008 until August 2009, the Happyville grandstand is undergoing major interior remodelling which will result in closure of half of the grandstand during the work.
Races
There are usually 11-12 races every Saturday and Sunday plus the opportunity to bet on at least one race from Jeju or Busan. The majority of races are sprints with distances of between 1000 meters and 2300 meters. Highlights of the season include the Korean Derby in May, the Minister of Agriculture Cup in October, and the Grand Prix Race in December. See this page for a list of the top horses currently running at Seoul.
Form Guides
The English language form sheet available in the Foreigner’s Lounge is detailed enough to give a general idea of which is the best horse in the race, however, for those looking for more detailed guides plus “expert” predicitions, it is a good idea to buy one of the many form guides that are available both inside and outside the track. Although all in Korean, it is easy to work out which horses they predict and the layout of the card is exactly the same as that used in just about every country. There are two types of guide available. First are ones with names such as “Ace”, “Speed” and “New World” which cost 1000 won and have the day’s card with predictions for each race ,and second are the more detailed ones of which “Seoul Gyongma” is the most poular, costing 4000 won and with a lot more background information for serious punters. If you buy a form guide from one of the many sellers on the way out of the subway station, you are usually given a “signpen” to bet with. See this page for more information about how to bet.
April 5, 2008 at 5:10 pm
[...] Hwangnyongsaji upset Saturday April 5, 2008 Kkumi Mulgyeol won today’s biggest race at Seoul Race Park, beating strong odds-on favourite Hwangnyongsaji by 2 lengths. With Cho Kyoung Ho riding, the five [...]
April 10, 2008 at 12:50 pm
[...] - Baekgwang is back One of the real superstars of Korean horse racing returns to the track at Seoul Race Park on Sunday. The grey, Baekgwang will go in the KRW 132Million Ttukseom Cup in his first outing since [...]
April 12, 2008 at 11:35 am
[...] year and the cherry blossoms out in the middle of the track, couple with the recent fine weather, Seoul Race Park was able to attract many more non-race fans than usual. Tomorrow sees the Ttukseom Cup, the first [...]
April 13, 2008 at 10:37 am
[...] The threatened rain never materialised and it was a gloriously sunny Spring day at Seoul Race Park as last year’s perpetual runner-up finally landed a big race today as Namchonuijijon swept to [...]
April 19, 2008 at 2:15 pm
[...] Review - Shaving Points makes it two Shaving Points made his second racecourse appearance at Seoul Race Park this afternoon and secured a comfortable win over 1300 metres. Having made his debut in the rain [...]
April 20, 2008 at 12:49 pm
[...] Day triumphs at Seoul Second favourite Good Day (3.5) took home the feature handicap at Seoul Race Park today with a close victory over Sirius (5.6). With Cho Kyoung Ho on board, Good Day took the win on [...]
April 24, 2008 at 2:26 pm
[...] Although both were beaten last time out, Galsaem and Subsidy remain the biggest names on show at Seoul Race Park this weekend. With Moon Se Young on board, Galsaem, beaten into fifth in appalling conditions at the [...]
April 28, 2008 at 1:23 pm
[...] and Park Tae Jong both absent, Moon Se Young was the only one of the top three jockeys in action at Seoul Race Park over the weekend, managing three wins to go eight clear of Cho. Moon was, unsurprisingly voted [...]
May 1, 2008 at 11:57 am
[...] racing at Seoul Race Park on both Saturday (12 races) and Sunday (11 races) with an 11:20 start on both days. Grand Prix [...]
May 3, 2008 at 10:51 am
[...] Racing Review Nujindo took the feature race at Seoul Race Park this afternoon with a three length win over Haengunui Bit. Only eight horses lined up for the 2000 [...]
May 10, 2008 at 12:35 pm
[...] burst to take a half length over long time leader Holeinonefive on the line in the feature race at Seoul Race Park this afternoon. The three year old went off the 1.4 favourite and for a time it looked like [...]
May 12, 2008 at 11:05 am
[...] Work has begun on remodelling the interior of the “Happyville” grandstand of Seoul Race Park. Over the next 16 months, the entire grandstand will be extensively redeveloped to bring its [...]
May 16, 2008 at 12:20 pm
[...] Racing Preview - Derby Weekend 2008 It’s the 2008 Korean Derby weekend at Seoul Race Park and while the main event isn’t until late on Sunday afternoon, there’s plenty of other [...]
May 24, 2008 at 9:58 am
[...] off a late challenge from Balhaejanggun and Hongji to take this afternoon’s feature race at Seoul Race Park. Ridden by Moon Se Young, the five year old made it 12 wins from 24 races in the 2000 metre [...]
June 5, 2008 at 3:55 pm
[...] usual, there are cards at Seoul Race Park. on both Saturday and Sunday with 11:20 the post time for the first race on both days. J.S. Hold, [...]
June 20, 2008 at 12:39 pm
[...] The Seoul Owner’s Cup dominates the weekend with the big race off at Seoul Race Park at 17:00 on Sunday afternoon (see full preview below). It’s the highlight of the usual two [...]
June 21, 2008 at 11:19 am
[...] put in the performance of the day to make it two wins out of two with a sixteen length victory at Seoul Race Park this afternoon. The three year old gelding, made his debut last month with a shock four length win [...]
June 26, 2008 at 2:28 pm
[...] usual, Seoul Race Park holds cards on Saturday and Sunday with the first race off at 11:20 both days. Feature race of the [...]