Top Jockeys

There are currently 105 licensed jockeys split between Seoul and Busan with a further 32 at Jeju. Among them are six from overseas – the Japanese trio of Ikuyasu Kurakane, Nozomu Tomizawa and Eiki Nishimura, South Africans Martin Wepner and Stephan Swanpoel and Peruvian born American Santos Chavez. Here are some of the jockeys of the moment:

Moon Se Young: Currently the top jockey in Korea, in 2008, Moon Se Young broke the record for the number of winners in a calender year with 128. Born in 1980, Moon made his debut shortly before his 21st birthday in 2001. His 8 year career has seen him pick up two Group 3 races, a Group 2 (The Minster of Agriculture Cup in 2004), the JRA Trophy and the Group 1 Grand Prix race in December 2007. However, it’s his strike rate rather than his big race wins that set him apart at the moment.

As of March 2009, he has 2328 career rides with 380 winners – a strike rate of 16.3%. He’s getting better too. In the last year, 34% of all his rides have finished in the first three. Although he has stated his desire to gain experience riding abroad, Moon is potentially the dominant jockey of the next decade in Korea. He’s also the jockey first out of the stalls riding number 8 in our banner at the top of this page! Here he is winning the 2007 Grand Prix on Bally Brae.

Park Tae Jong: The jockey with the most rides and most wins in his career is Park Tae Jong. Now 43, Park debuted in 1987 at the old Seoul Race Park in Ttukseom. As of March 2009, Park has had 9478 rides rides with 1474 winners and is possibly the only jockey to be a household name in Korea outside racing circles.

2008 saw Park win four of the nation’s big races including the Minister’s Cup and KRA Cup Classic Throughout his career he’s won every major race including back-to-back Korean Derbys in 1999 and 2000. In October 2008, he won the two day International Jockey Challenge at Seoul Race Park. Here he is leading from start to finish in a race from October 2007.

Choi Beom Hyun: Late 2008 saw Choi Beom Hyun emerge as a serious contender to Moon Se Young, crowing the season with victory on Dongbanui Gangja in the Grand Prix. Although he only has 271 wins from his eigth year career, nearly 100 of those have come in the past year.

Ikuyasu Kurakane: Iku came to Korea in July 2007 having previously been a top jockey at Japan’s Kochi track and quickly established himself, winning the Nonghyup Bank Cup later that year. It is since moving to Busan in January 2009 that the 33 year old has really come into his own. Replacing his departing countryman Toshio Uchida, Kurakane has quickly become the man Busan owners want riding their horses.