Saturday’s racing is at Busan with a 10-race card from 13:30 to 18:00. Racecourses and OTB’s in the south of the country will be open to spectators with advance reservations (made through the MyCard app) at 20% of the indoor seated capacity. The open locations are Jeju Racecourse and Busan Racecourse as well as the off-track betting centres in Busan (both of them), Changwon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Cheonan. All betting locations in the Greater Seoul area remain closed. Here are the Busan previews:

Race 1: Class 6 (1000M) Allowance / KRW 22 Million

Twelve previously unraced three-year-olds tackle the opener and we have plenty coming in off good trial performances. The fastest was (4) MUJEOK BULPAE, who responded well when asked and ran 2^nd in his heat to an already established racehorse. It bodes well for his debut here. (12) AMAZING FOOT was green in the home straight in his trial but was able to pull himself together and go up a gear to cross the line 1^st. He looks like he has a nice – if not yet amazing – turn of foot and can go well under Seo Seung-un. You Hyun-myung rode both of those horses in their respective trials but he jumps aboard (1) WIND HARPOON and that alone will probably be enough for local punters to make the Thunder Moccasin filly the favourite. She led her trial, ultimately finishing a close at hand 3^rd and from the inside gate, should be able to lead again. Also attracting attention will be the combination of trainer Kim Young-kwan and jockey Djordje Perovic with (2) OLD CHEONHA. He ran well in a competitive heat and has every chance of going close. (7) ADELE SMART and (8) PICTURE JASPER are others who showed promise in trials.

Race 2: Class 6 (1200M) Allowance / KRW 22 Million

Fillies only here and the solitary previous winner among them is set to be the warm favourite. That’s (6) SAGARMATHA, who was a winner on debut last October with a front-running performance and who has since followed up with back to back 3^rd places. She’s much better than class 6 and should be proving that here. (13) A PLUS ONE ran 4^th to Sagarmatha on debut, running on strong from well off the pace. She was 4^th on her return too in November and comes back in after three months off as one of the primary dangers. Other dangers include (1) SECOND WIND, who has the second fastest time among these at the distance. All her four races were last summer but she comes in here having looked strong in a January trial and should be very much in the hunt. (9) BAEK SEOL QUEEN has some speed about her but has just failed to hit top gear in her latest two. She’s perhaps worth another chance for a place here while (14) MASTER QUEEN led in her last start before ending up in 4^th and while she has the outside gate to contend with, is another who could go close.

Race 3: Class 6 (1400M) Allowance / KRW 22 Million

We have three nailed on favorites across the card and this is the first of them. (13) MILLION MAKER came from just behind the speed to get his maiden win over 1200M on November 29^th. While he’s not raced since and does have a wide draw, the additional furlong should only suit and it is hard to see him being beaten here. If he does slip up, then (10) YEONGGWANGUI TEUKG is most likely to advantage He’s yet to win in eleven attempts but has steadily improved and beat three of his rivals here on his way to a solid if unspectacular runner-up finish over this distance on January 8^th. (8) CHEONMA HASEO was 3^rd in that same race having previously recorded the fastest time of these at this distance – although it has to be said, it wasn’t especially swift – and he looks next best. (11) LEGEND BOSS and (12) MAGIC STEALTH also came out of the January 8^th race – 5^th and 4^th respectively – and they too look set to be in the placing frame today.

Race 4: Class 5 (1200M) Handicap / KRW 32 Million

Cases can be made for a few of these. Given the draw though, we’re going to put (1) TWO TWO WILD THING on top. The Modern Cowboy colt has never finished worse than 4^th and runs best when he gets an early lead. He can certainly do that here and while he is carrying more weight than he has done to date, he looks well placed to get his third career victory. The draw has been less kind to another front-runner, (14) MACH TITAN. That said, he managed to overcome gate 11 to win well last start at class 6 over this distance. That took his record to two wins from four starts and if he can cross the field early, then he has a chance again. (2) JEONGMUN POWER ran 2^nd to Mach Titan in that race having previously won on debut at this distance back in November. He is another front-runner and can challenge Two Two Wild Thing for the early lead. One of Mach Titan’s defeats was in a top class juvenile race last November when he was 4^th, one ahead of (5) B.K. LOOKS. The latter comes in off a useful class and distance 2^nd a month ago and is another in the hunt here. So too is (10) ROCK PEGASUS, already a winner at this class, as well as (9) QUEEN VRONSKY, an excellent winner at class 6 last start but facing tougher opposition today.

Continue reading ”Busan Saturday: Race-By-Race Preview (February 27)”