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KOREA : Triple Nine, Cheongdam Dokki Among Grand Prix Nominationsby gyongmaman |
Twenty-eight horses have been nominated for the Grand Prix Stakes, the traditional season-ending finale which is set for Seoul Racecourse on Sunday December 9thand will be run over the longest distance in use in Korean racing, 2300M. They include the now four-time President’s Cup Champion Triple Nine as well as Busan Mayor’s Cup and KRA Cup Classic victor Cheongdam Dokki and Korea Cup 2ndplace-getter Dolkong.
With last year’s winner Power Blade having been retired this summer, there is only one previous Grand Prix winner among the nominations. That’s Clean Up Joy, who triumphed in the 2016 edition and would be tackling the race for the fifth time. For Triple Nine, 3rdlast year, it would be fourth attempt with his best finish being 2nd to Clean Up Joy in 2016.
Ten of the nominated horses are trained at Seoul, including Cheongdam Dokki, Clean Up Joy and Dolkong, while the remaining eighteen are from Busan. The maximum field size for the race is sixteen. Busan-trained horses joined the race for the first time in 2009 and have won six of the subsequent nine runnings.
All four foreign trainers based in Korea are represented at this stage. Peter Wolsley, who won the race with Bold Kings in 2015 has put forward Ppudeut and Royal Ruby while Thomas Gillespie has Great King and Champ Line. Along with Dolkong, Simon Foster has nominated Choego Money while Bart Rice is set to once again send Buhwarui Banseok, who finished very strongly for 5th place a year ago.
First run in 1985, the Grand Prix remains the race every Korean owner, trainer and jockey wants to win. It’s place in the calendar at the end of the year and its unusual distance as well as until recently being one of the few Korean Group 1 races not restricted to locally-bred horses make it a unique challenge with the winner traditionally almost always becoming Horse Of The Year. That’s not necessarily the case these days but even in the Korea Cup era, the Grand Prix still hasn’t lost its luster.
Three horses have won the race twice. Po Gyeong Seon in the 1980s, Ka Shock Do in the 1980s and Dongbanui Gangja in the 2000s and the list of winners is a roll call of the biggest names in Korean racing over the past three decades. In addition to the two-time winners, such luminaries as Subsidy, Mister Park, Tough Win and of course Power Blade have come home in front in December. For all his achievements, Triple Nine is yet to add his name to the list. It might be fourth time lucky this December. Here’s the full list of preliminary nominations:
SEOUL
Cheonji Storm
Singgeureoun Geom
Wild Thunder
Cheongdam Dokki
Clean Up Joy
Tosconova Cat
Road Winner
Ultra Rocket
Dolkong
Choego Money
BUSAN
Champ Line
Great King
Baekmunbaekdap
Today
Triple Nine
Saengil Gippeum
Ppudeut
Royal Ruby
Buhwarui Banseok
Stealth
Indian King
Hello Venus
Jumbo Blade
Good Casting
Adeleui Chukje
World Sun
Dongbang Daero
Wooa
KOREA : Sky Bay Lands Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup / Victoire Bags Seven / Gaon Champ Steps upby gyongmaman |
Sky Bay ran out the emphatic winner of the Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup, the final leg of the 2018 Queens’ Tour at Busan last Sunday. The three-year-old US-bred filly ran away from the field in the home straight to win by five-lengths and secure a first Group race victory for trainer Lee Shin Young.
Sky Bay was sent off as favourite for the 2000M test and was prominent throughout. While other early pace-setters Blue Flag and Catch Nine gave way, the Adios Charlie filly was too strong and fast-finishers Seouri Byeol and Damyang Hwanho never looked like getting close. With Sky Bay not having competed in either of the first two legs of the Queens’ Tour, 4th place-getter Cheongsu Yeogeol, winner of the Ttukseom Cup and 2nd in the KNN Cup, was crowned the overall Series winner
Sky Bay [Adios Charlie - KK's Kitty (Yes It's True)] was a $95,000 purchase from the OBS 2017 Spring Sale of two-year-olds and has now won five of her nine races. It is the biggest win of trainer Lee Shin Young’s career as she becomes the first Korean female trainer to saddle a Group winner.
For jockey Lee Chan Ho, one of the most naturally gifted riders Korea has produced but who has seen his career weighed down somewhat by suspensions for off-track issues, it was a second Group winner following Choegang Schiller’s triumph in the 2015 Asia Challenge Cup.
Speaking of jockeys, up at Seoul it was a sensational weekend for Johan Victoire. The French rider rode three winners on Saturday and then managed to top that feat on Sunday, partnering four more for a total of seven across the weekend.
So blessed to ride 7 winners this weekend! 3 yesterday and 4 today ! Unbelievable…! Thank you all ! @korearacing @KRAOfficialpic.twitter.com/OhIKkYnYo9
— johan victoire (@JohanVictoire) November 11, 2018
Victoire, who is seventeen months into his Korean sojourn, has now ridden 73 winners from 729 rides in the country.
While Sky Bay’s win was impressive, the performance of the weekend, however, may have been up in Seoul. In the very last race on Sunday, Gaon Champ stepped up to class 1 for the first time and completely dominated, running in the second fastest time of the year over 1400M for an untroubled length-and-a-half victory.
Gaon Champ (Ecton Park) is a three-year-old colt whose only defeats so far have come at the hands of Mask, in the Seoul Classic trial back in March, and then in the KRA Cup Mile at Busan when he played up in the gates beforehand. He moves on to six wins from eight total starts and will hopefully be one to look out for in the bg sprints next year. He’ll probably not get the opportunity to carry just 51kg again though.
Roaring Lion Named Horse of the Year
Roaring Lion after winning the QEII | racingfotos.com
For the fourth time in five years, a horse trained by John Gosden has taken the top honour as Europe’s Horse of the Year at the Cartier Awards in London.
On Tuesday night, it was the 3-year-old colt Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) who earned the award over three of his stablemates-Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}), Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire})-as well as Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})-on the merit of wins in the G1 Coral-Eclipse, G1 Juddmonte International, G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. Purchased by David Redvers for $160,000 from Keeneland September in 2016, Roaring Lion raced in the colours of Qatar Racing and, in addition to the aforementioned accomplishments, won the G2 Royal Lodge S. at two and was second in the G1 Racing Post Trophy and third in the G1 Investec Derby. Roaring Lion, who also won the Cartier 3-Year-Old Colt award, retires to Tweenhills Stud for 2019.
Roaring Lion follows Kingman (GB) (2014), Golden Horn (GB) (2015) and Enable (2017) in bringing the Horse of the Year statue back to Clarehaven Stables.
Enable, Stradivarius, and Alpha Centauri each received compensation for missing out on Horse of the Year. Enable made just three starts this year but those remarkably included a title-defending win in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and a victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf; she became the first horse to record that double in the same year and only the second ever to win both. The Juddmonte Farms homebred took Cartier Older Horse honours.
Stradivarius was one of the leading lights of the turf throughout the season, and he was awarded on Tuesday with the Cartier Stayer Award. Stradivarius was unbeaten in five races in 2018-the G2 Yorkshire Cup, G1 Gold Cup, G1 Goodwood Cup, G2 Lonsdale Cup and G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup-and handed connections’ a £1-million bonus for completing the inaugural WH Stayers’ Million series.
Also highly consistent throughout the season was the Niarchos Family’s homebred Alpha Centauri. The imposing grey filly built on the promise she had shown early in the season at two, taking the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas followed by the G1 Coronation S., G1 Falmouth S. and the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. She was retired after picking up an injury when second to Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Matron S.
Remarkably, we’re not done with Gosden yet. The trainer picked up a record-equaling fifth Cartier statue on the evening when his Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was predictably named champion 2-year-old colt. The Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber homebred was unbeaten in four starts this year, culminating in a win in the G1 Dewhurst S. Too Darn Hot also won the G3 Solario S. and G2 Champagne S., and he beat out Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), Quorto (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) for divisional honours.
The only other trainer to win five Cartier awards in one evening was Aidan O’Brien in 2016.
The Cartier 2-Year-Old Filly award went to Ireland to Anthony and Sonia Rogers’s Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy). Skitter Scatter had a busy seven-race campaign and rewarded connections with three wins in pattern company: the G3 Silver Flash S., G2 Debutante S. and G1 Moyglare Stud S. She took the honors over Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Fairyland (Scat Daddy) and Hermosa (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) was the winner of the Cartier Sprinter award on the merit of her victory in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye. Owned by David Armstrong and trained by Michael Dods, she had won the G3 Palace House S. in May and was placed three times in pattern company this year: in the G1 King’s Stand S., G2 Sapphire S. and G1 Nunthorpe S.
The Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit was given to David Oldrey, who is regarded as one of the greatest talents to have worked in the administration of British horse racing. Oldrey has served The Jockey Club and the British Horseracing Board among other industry bodies. He is also a successful owner and breeder and racing historian.
Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant, said, “What another outstanding year it has been for European horse racing. Congratulations to John Gosden and his team for securing a joint-record five equine Cartier Racing Awards at the 28th annual Cartier Racing Awards. Roaring Lion truly lived up to his name, with four courageous Group 1 successes over the course of the season.
“Enable more than made up for missing the summer with her second Arc success followed by the Breeders’ Cup Turf. What an outstanding filly she is. There was nothing to touch Stradivarius in the stayers’ division, while Too Darn Hot looks hugely exciting for the 2019 campaign.
“Alpha Centauri towered over her rivals with several scintillating displays and congratulations to her owner-breeder the Niarchos Family and trainer Jessica Harrington, who has proved herself to be the outstanding dual-purpose handler of our age.
“Mabs Cross was superbly campaigned and earned her just reward at Longchamp, while Anthony and Sonia Rogers, such tremendous owner-breeders, have an outstanding filly in Skitter Scatter.
“Of course, horseracing does not function without great people behind the scenes. David Oldrey, who has dedicated himself to the administration of our great sport, is one such person. He is the deserved winner of the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit.
“Congratulations to all our winners this year and thanks go to Cartier UK, headed by Laurent Feniou, for supporting the Cartier Racing Awards for the 28th consecutive year.” (fonte : TDN).
Ippica: Il Ministro Centinaio al TG5 ha parlato dei problemi dell’ippica e di soluzioni da ricercare.
Stalloni : sale il tasso di monta di Nathaniel, scende quello di Equiano
Government brings forward date of FOBT maximum stake cut to April 2019
The government has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown over the timing of the implementation of the new £2 maximum stake for FOBTs.
Culture secretary Jeremy Wright on Wednesday announced the changes would be brought in next April, rather than in October as had originally been planned.
Taxes on online casino games will rise at the same time, resulting in a £100 million hit to the sector according to industry representatives.
The government’s plan to make the changes next October, which was revealed as part of last month’s Budget, led to the resignation of sports minister Tracey Crouch who described the decision as “unjustifiable”.
It was followed by a sizeable rebellion among Conservative MPs amid cross-party support for an amendment to the Finance Bill to force the government to change its mind.
Wright’s statement said: “The government has been clear that protecting vulnerable people is the prime concern, but that as a responsible government it is also right to take the needs of those employed by the gambling industry into account and provide time for an orderly transition.
“Parliament has, however, been clear that they want this change to be made sooner. The government has listened and will now implement the reduction in April 2019.”
The government’s u-turn had been signalled earlier in the day by Theresa May during Prime Minister’s Questions.
Responding to Iain Duncan Smith, the prime minister said: “We are listening to the concerns being raised by colleagues.”
Labour deputy leader and shadow culture secretary Tom Watson said the decision demonstrated the “disastrous political judgement” of Wright and chancellor Philip Hammond.
He added: “It’s very sad that it took an honourable resignation of a good minister and a cross-party revolt to achieve the blindingly obvious and necessary reforms to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.
“Whilst this is a personal humiliation for Jeremy Wright, this is a very good day for the many thousands of people whose families and communities are blighted by gambling addiction.
“Labour is proud to be part of a cross-party campaign to reform our gambling laws and we will continue to campaign for further improvements to regulation in the sector.”
Crouch said she was “pleased that common sense has prevailed”.
She added: “I am sorry that my views as the minister in charge of the policy were not heard but I am delighted that the collective voices of parliamentarians, faith leaders, victims of gambling addiction and their families, press and media commentators and many members of the public have been.”
Wright said a statutory instrument to bring about the FOBT changes would be laid before parliament this week.
He added the government expected the gambling industry to work with it to reduce the effect of any impact on jobs.
The Association of British Bookmakers had hoped for a later implementation to allow more time for businesses to redeploy staff and save jobs where possible.
It claims the reduction in maximum FOBT stakes will result in up to 4,500 shop closures and 21,000 job losses.
Reacting to the news, an ABB spokesperson said: “Betting shops will comply with the timing that the government sets for the £2 stake implementation.”
Wright said the Finance Bill would be amended to implement the increase in remote gaming duty needed to offset the loss in tax revenue from the FOBT changes at the same time.
Remote Gambling Association chief executive Clive Hawkswood said in response: “The change in implementation dates will clearly be a blow for the LBO [licensed betting office] sector, but it is frustrating that no consideration at all seems to have been given to the fact that this also means the online gaming sector could now face an additional tax hit of around £100m, over and above the expected £200m-plus a year it had already been saddled with.
“To say we have suffered serious collateral damage would be an understatement.”
Despite the news, bookmaker share prices rose. Paddy Power Betfair shares were up six per cent at 7,070p, shares in GVC Holdings – the parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral – rose by around 5.6 per cent to 821p, while William Hill shares rose 0.7 per cent to 187.2p.
What the announcement means
- The government has brought forward the implementation date for the reduction of FOBT stakes to £2 from £100 to April from October 2019.
- The betting industry had originally expected the changes to be made in April 2020 in order for them to mitigate potential job losses with FOBTs making up more than half of betting shop revenues.
- Betting shop operators have warned as many as 4,500 betting shops could close as a result of the decision to go to £2, with the loss of 21,000 jobs.
- To make up for the loss in tax revenues from FOBTs, the government had also announced that Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) – taxes on online casinos – will rise to 21 per cent from 15 per cent.
- Industry representatives say the decision to move forward the RGD rise to April will cost the sector an extra £100m.
- Government projections had estimated that in the 2020-21 fiscal year the increase in RGD would raise an extra £255 million for the Treasury, while the cut in FOBT stakes would mean £245m less for the government’s coffers.
fonte : RacingPost
