Top Horses - Seoul

These are the top horses currently in training at Seoul worked out in order of prize money won over the last year:

1. J.S. Hold - Winner of the inaugural Korean Triple Crown in 2007, a fit J.S. Hold is without question the top horse in Korea right now. His last outing as a three year old was in completing the TC in October last year with this win in the Minister of Agriculture Cup. J.S. Hold has a career record of 9 wins from ten starts and won all four of his races as a three year old. Disappointingly for many, he didn’t start the 2007 Grand prix race due to injury and is yet to appear as a four year old. As of June 2008, J.S. Hold is back in training and may appear on the racetrack soon. Here is his complete domination of the 2007 Korean Derby.

2. Myeongmun Gamun - Now seven years old, the Park Dae Hong trained gelding has been picking off big value handicaps recently. With a career record of 14 wins from 25 starts including five over the past year, Myeongmun Gamun has career earnings approaching 1Billion Won. Here he is winning the President’s Cup last autumn.

3. Bally Brae - Winner of the 2007 Grand Prix race ahead of Subsidy and Myeongmun Gamun, Bally Brae enters his sixth year with a record of 12 wins from 19 races. As a three year old, Bally Brae broke the track record for 1200 meters with a time of 1:11.9 which still stands today. Here’s the Grand Prix win.

4. Baekpa - The grey Baekpa won the Korean Oaks in 2007 and in the past year has 6 wins from 9 starts. A half sister of Baekgwang, the top three year old in 2006, she’s made an inauspicious start to her career as a four year old in the handicaps finishing fifth behing Hongji, Flying Cat and Galsaem in February. Here is her Korean Oaks win. Incidentally, Baekgwang doesn’t feature in the list having not run due to injury since a second place behind Flying Cat last September when carring five kilos more than his nearest rival.

5. Gayasanseong - The top money earner on the list although the over 1Billion won of of prizes have come over a career spanning 42 races with just 14 of those ending in victory. Debuting in 2003, Gayasanseong’s last outing was in February 2008 and ended in a half length victory in a 2000 metre handicap. Here’s a battling victory from 2006.

6. Secret Weapon - Beginning life as a five year old, Secret Weapon is a very consistant placer with a 77% place strike rate throughout a career which has seen 11 wins from 22 starts. With two wins in 2008 already, most recently on March 9, Secret Weapon will clearly be a force in the handicaps throughout the year.

7. Ganghomyeongjang - While very much playing second fiddle to J.S. Hold in terms of three year olds in 2007, finishing second in both the Ttukseom Cup and the Minister of Agriculture Cup (legs 1 and 3 of the Triple Crown respectively), Ganghomyeongjang was also an extremely strong horse in his own right. Although he only finished fourth in the other leg of the TC, the Korean Derby, in races not involving J.S. Hold, the horse has a record of 6 wins from 8 starts. Yet to appear as a four year old, his last outing ended on failure to complete the Grand Prix race due to pulling up lame after leading for the first half of the race.

8. Galsaem - Galsaem has racked up 16 wins from 28 starts and has consistantly won 50% of his races each year of her career. Galsaem had a disappointing start to 2008 finishing third behind Hongji and Flying Cat when starting as 2.3 favourite at the beginning of February and has struggled to find her best form since then.

9. Subsidy - One of the last foals sired by Mr. Prospector, Subsidy was Horse of the Year in 2005, Subsidy is now an 8 year old but is back fit and in form and won last time out at the end of February. Subsidy traded big handicap wins with Bally Brae in 2007 ultimately coming off second best in the Grand Prix but not before getting the better of him in the final furlong in this great battle from March 2007.

10. Namchonuijijon - Not a prolific winner but the third best three year old of 2007 placing in the Korean Derby. He just had two wins in 2007 but has started off 2008 well with an eleven length victory in a handicap in early February and then followed it up with victory in the Ttukseom Cup in April. With that win, Namchonuijijon is arguably the number one horse at Seoul right now. Here’s his Ttukseom Cup victory.