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Seoul hosts its final card of 2018 on Sunday with a bumper 15-race program featuring a total of 174 horses.
It’s the race with the smallest field of the day that boasts the biggest prize, however, as eight line up for the Trainers’ Cup over 1200M.
It should prove to be Gaon Champ’s day. The three-year-old colt has had his setbacks since being a precocious juvenile a year ago but has won six of eight total starts. His only defeats have been in the Sports Seoul Cup behind eventual Derby runner-up Mask, and then in the first-leg of the Triple Crown, the KRA Cup Mile at Busan, when he reared in the gate and had to be reloaded before putting in an out of sorts performance.
Since returning to Seoul, Gaon Champ has won three in a row with considerable ease, including his first tilt at class 1 over 1400M last month and back at 1200M, he should have too much in the Trainers’ Cup. The one with the best chance of stopping him is Gasokbulpae, who won this race a year ago and enters in good form having put in a huge effort to run 3rd to Triple Nine in November’s President’s Cup over 2000M.
Gasokbulpae will be ridden by Antonio Da Silva and an upset what cap off what has been a standout year for the Brazilian rider. Da Silva leads the Seoul Jockey Premiership by over 10 winners and was formally awarded the prize of Jockey Of The Year at a ceremony at Seoul Racecourse last Thursday. He has a total of nine rides on Sunday’s cards with several of them being live chances.
There are 15 races at Seoul on Sunday running from 10:45am to 6pm local Korea time.