One of Korea’s all-time great race-mares kicks off her 2019 season on Sunday afternoon and Silver Wolf, never one to be shielded from a challenge, will face stern examination as she seeks to defend her Donga Ilbo Trophy title over 1800M at Seoul Racecourse (11 races from 10:45 to 18:00. Busan: 6 races from 12:40 to 17:05).

 

 

An Australian-bred by Oratorio, Silver Wolf was purchased as for $40,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale in 2014. She’s since gone on to amass over US$1.5Million in prize money and in 2017 swept all three legs of the Queens’ Tour to be named Champion Filly/Mare. Competent at any distance, after winning this race last year, she went to Busan and defeated Power Blade over 1200M in the Busan Ilbo Cup.

The rest of 2018 was challenging for Silver Wolf as she plied her trade only in elite company and was 2^nd to Ace Korea in the Kookje News Trophy, again at Busan in November. She’ll be favourite to retain the Donga Ilbo but it won’t be easy given the presence of a number of up and coming fillies looking to usurp her.

Chief among the pretenders is Sky Bay. Lee Shin Young’s American import by Adios Charlie is a winner of five of her nine starts so far and concluded her three-year-old campaign by winning the final leg of the Queens’ Tour, the Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup, over 2000M, at Busan in November. That victory gave handler Lee the distinction of becoming the first female trainer to saddle a Group race winner in Korea. Sky Bay will carry 3kg less than the reigning champion could well be getting better.

The overall winner of last year’s Queens’ Tour (which Silver Wolf, being aged six, wasn’t eligible for) was Cheongsu Yeogeol. She ran 4^th in the Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup on what was her first try at more than a mile and while beating Silver Wolf may be beyond her, she returns here too and can challenge for a place. The same is true for that day’s runner-up Seouri Byeol, who won the Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup at this distance at Seoul in September.

Here is the race by race for Seoul with Busan Selections below:

Race 1: Class 6 (1000M) Allowance / KRW 40 Million

Three-year-old maidens to kick things off with just five of the twelve having raced before. Two of those have showed some ability, however, with (12) CHEON GOE SEONG and (9) ACE TRIPLE coming home 2^nd and 3^rd respectively when they raced each other at this distance on January 5. Both showed enough that day to suggest they can be fighting it out for top honours this time. The other three didn’t offer much with (11) SUNSHINE LADY perhaps most likely to improve. As for the first-timers, (6) FLOWER ROAD and (8) FEDERAL CAT looked the most promising – although that’s all relative here, really – in trials and are likely to be backed first up.

Selections	(12) Cheon Goe Seong (9) Ace Triple (8) Federal Cat (6) Flower Road
Next Best	11, 4
Fast Start	4, 9, 11

Race 2: Class 6 (1300M) Allowance / KRW 40 Million

(2) CLEAN UP TRIO was an improved 2^nd in what looked a slightly stiffer test than this three weeks ago. He led until the closing stages that day and should be on pace again from the start with solid claims to go one better this time. (11) SPEED HEUKRYONG has shown improvement across three starts so far and beat a couple of these on his way to 4^thplace at 1000M a month ago. He looks ready to step back up in trip today and should be a danger. (7) WHITE VELVET too has shown signs of figuring things out recently and can go close – he’ll likely join Clean Up Trio on the early speed. (6) BLUE MEGA ELLA did nothing wrong on debut while (12) INCHEON LION also looks to have scope to improve.

Selections	(2) Clean Up Trio (11) Speed Heukryeong (7) White Velvet (12) Incheon Lion
Next Best	6, 8
Fast Start	2, 7

Race 3: Class 5 (1300M) Handicap / KRW 60 Million

(2) MAMMA ROMA has shown steady progress across four starts so far and got her reward when scoring over this distance on January 6^th. She’s up in class today but could well continue her development and she’s the pick to win here in this all-filly handicap. Runner-up that day was (3) GREEN SARANG and she too comes up in class. She’s still a maiden but she should be competitive at this level. Greater danger may come from elsewhere, though. (4) HEUNG KKAEBI was a winner on debut last September and comes in having finished off last year with a close at hand 4^th place in a similar race to this. With some improvement, she’ll be right in the mix to win this. (8) STAR LIST was a class and distance winner four weeks ago and while carrying additional weight today, must be similarly respected. (11) BETTINA is up in class following her maiden win last month and while she perhaps has a bit more to find, isn’t out of it either.

Selections	(2) Mamma Roma (4) Heung Kkaebi (8) Star List (3) Green Sarang
Next Best	11, 9
Fast Start	1, 7

Race 4: Class 5 (1700M) Handicap / KRW 40 Million

It’s hard to look past (8) BI PYEONG here. He’s won just the one time from four starts so far but comes in having run a very good 2^nd place to Gaon Force on his first try at this distance on January 5^th. He looks to be bound for a higher level than this and should win. Plenty of other useful looking types here as well. (4) DONG JAK ran out a six-length winner over 1300M three weeks ago and is up in class and distance today with potential to get better still. (5) GEUMA ZENITH was a rather optimistic entrant in last November’s Nonghyup Trophy and while that went about as well as expected, he proved his ability by winning in December. He too comes up in class and distance and can improve. (3) BARAM KING and (6) NANGMAN STAR both have experience of this level and can be competitive.

Selections	(8) Bi Pyeong (5) Geuma Zenith (4) Dong Jak (3) Baram King
Next Best	6, 9
Fast Start	4, 9

Race 5: Class 4 (1700M) Allowance / KRW 60 Million

(3) GAON FORCE has won his latest two in good fashion (beating Bi Pyeong from race 4 last time out), the latest a front-running win on his first try at this distance. Up in class today, he’s nicely in here and can win again. It’s a good race though. (11) MONEY POCKET is also rapidly moving up the classes. She’s won two from three so far and while she stretches out in trip today, there look to be more to come. (1) SPEED HWANGNYONG is another who tries this distance for the first time. He’s already proven himself competitive at this level with a 3^rd and a 4^th from two attempts at it so far and he should be close again. The placing claims go deep with (2) HAPPY MAUNTAIN, (9) STRONG CAPTAIN and (12) SPEED YEONGUNG all firmly in the frame.

Selections	(3) Gaon Force (11) Money Pocket (1) Speed Hwangnyong (12) Speed Yeongung
Next Best	2, 9
Fast Start	3, 4, 6, 10

Race 6: Class 5 (1300M) Handicap / KRW 40 Million

(2) DOKDO YA is up in class following his maiden win at this distance on December 15^th. The 3^rd place-getter that day won well last weekend so that form has taken a bit of a…  Read more of this post