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 1 or 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 Seoul Forest 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 short section on the history of Korean racing.

Come out of the station and head down the covered walkway to the entrance

The Track and Facilities

Races are held on an oval-shaped artificial sand-based 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 an information desk on the 1st floor of Luckyville with English, Japanese and Chinese speakers and simple English language race-cards available. Anyone wanting to do more serious form analysis though should download the detailed racecard online at the KRA’s site (or from the Australian Racing & Sports site which carries Seoul & Busan cards).

Other

More allocated seating is available in the Convention Hall on the 6th floor of Luckyville, however, day membership (at 10,000won) is operated on a first come first served basis and on Sundays especially, can be quite busy – this area is usually used by those who come purely to bet and has the atmosphere of an off-track betting centre so is not recommended for a great raceday experience. There are also reserved seating areas on the 5th floor and a “Premium” area called the “Pegasus Lounge” on the 6th floor (day membership 35,000won). Again, on Sundays these can fill up early but ask at the information desk for more information,

Entrance to the track is 2,000 won by “T-Money” card or “CashBEE” transportation card only. One time entrance cards can be purchased from ticket machines at the entrance for 3,000 won, 1,000 won of which is refundable on the way out. Staff are on hand to assist if needed. Credit cards can’t be used for entrance or for betting although they can be used in the restaurants. Korean credit cards do not work in the ATMs (due to laws against gambling on credit) however all debit/check cards do and some ATMs accept foreign credit cards. There is a branch of Nonghyup Bank on the 1st floor of Luckyville Grandstand which offers currency exchange.

You can enter the track using your subway card or you can buy a ticket at one of these machines. The staff will help.

A new addition is the “NOL Lounge” on the 1st floor of the Happyville Grandstand closest to the winning line. This provides an area with information desks and plenty of seating both indoors and out for newcomers to the track who wish to escape the somewhat frenetic atmosphere of the general areas as well as a classroom, games room and exhibitions. Technically it is for racegoers under the age of 40 but it is unheard of for foreign visitors to be challenged on this (!).

A tunnel under the winning line leads to the “Pony Land” theme park. Entry is free.

“Ponyland” Family Park in the infield

Food: There are many many restaurants at the track. They do tend to get quite busy on Sundays during breaks in the Seoul races when the screens are showing Busan so if you want to relax and take your time, it’s a good idea to pick a Seoul race to miss. On Saturdays they are generally quite quiet. Here are a few of them:

Delacourt Cafeteria – Hansik Buffet- Happyville Grandstand, 2nd floor: One of two locations on the track branded “Delacourt” Take a tray and walk down the line picking up whichever dish you like – most people pick up a plate of rice and two or three side dishes. Everything is there, bulgogi, baked fish, spicy pork, and every kind of kimchi imaginable. Expect to pay around 7,000 to 9,000 won for two side dishes with rice.

Delacourt Cafeteria, 1st Floor Luckyville: The 2nd “Delacourt Cafeteria”, this has more of a food court feel with three outlets sharing one seating area. One serves Korean style Chinese food “Jjamppong” being the most popular, another serving pork cutlets and another doing standard Korean food. Order from the pictures on the way in, and then wait for your number to appear on the screens.

The three outlets making up the Delacourt Cafeteria

Chinese Restaurants – Happyville Grandstand 2nd floor & Luckyville Grandstand, 3rd floor: Two more Chinese restaurants serving Koreanised Chinese food. The “Ja-jang-myon” and and the “Zampon” are both acceptable. 6,000-8,000won and the Tang-su-yuk (sweet and sour pork) in Happyville at 8,000 won is very good.

NOL Lounge area: On the Ground/1st floor of Happyville there are several stands. Just by the entrance is a Baskin Robbins and Auntie Annies pretzel stand. Inside the lounge itself there is a Dunkin Donuts and Tart Farm. The latter sells excellent egg tarts and coffee.

Ediya Coffee which is located on the 1st floor of Luckyville Grandstand. There are also numerous coffee stands throughout the Grandstand including Dunkin Donuts and “Tart Farm” inside the NOL Lounge.

Lotteria- 1st floor Happyville: In front of NOL Lounge there is a large branch of the fast food outlet (Korea’s answer to McDonalds). Order at the machines by the entrance – it’s all in English – and then pick up at the counter.

There are many other restaurants and snack bars dotted around the track and the convenience store chains 7/11 and GS25 both have numerous outlets throughout the course.

Recommended Restaurants for foreign visitors apart from Lotteria:

Shanghai – Happyville 2nd floor: This is a Korean style Chinese restaurant which has a very simple menu – Noodles with Black Bean Sauce, Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup and Sweet & Sour fried Pork – and all combinations of the three.  Recommended is the shrimp fried rice, which comes with black bean sauce and a small bowl of spicy soup. It costs 6,500. The cashier usually understands English but the Korean word for it is “Bokkeumbap”. If in a group, get an additional plate of sweet and sour pork “Tang-Su-yuk” for 11,000won.

My Del Place – Luckyville 2nd floor: Somewhat hidden away and accordingly except for Sunday between 12 and 1, it always has free tables.  Recommended are the Curry-Rice,  Galbitang (Beef Rib broth) or the pork cutlet (donkatsu).

My Del Place interior – Luckyville 2nd floor

Beer: As of January 2020, Seoul Racecourse is going through one of its phases where there is no beer – or any other alcohol – on sale. This happens from time to time. There are a number of dormant beer stands around the track that may or may not re-open in summer. Right now, the only place in the complex where real beer can be bought is the CU convenience store in the Employee Restaurant building (the CU is open to the public). This is beyond the golden statue near the equestrian arena. For those wishing to drink beer, it is advisable to bring your own for the time being.

 

Races

There are usually 11-12 races every Saturday and Sunday plus the opportunity to bet on at least two races from Jeju or Busan – in 2017 five to six races from Jeju are simulcasted on Saturdays and six from Busan on Sundays. Race distances vary between five furlongs (1000 metres) and eleven and a half furlongs (2300 metres). Highlights of the season include the Korean Derby in May, the Korea Cup & Korea Sprint International races in September, President’s Cup in November and the Grand Prix Stakes in December. See this page for a list of the top horses currently running at Seoul.

Form Guides

The English language form sheet available from the first floor information desk 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” predictions, 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. Second are the more detailed ones of which “Seoul Gyongma” and “Gyongma Munhwa” are the most popular, costing 4000 won and with a lot more background information for serious punters. Each magazine has a kiosk inside the subway station and all are available at the “Magazine Shop” by the main entrance to the track. If you buy one of them, you are usually given a “signpen” to bet with. See this page for more information about how to bet.