May 15, 2023
Raon The Spurt ran away from the field in the Ttukseom Cup, while an hour later Raon The Fighter did similar in the SBS Sports Sprint as the Raon green of Son Chun-soo strengthened its grip on elite level racing.
In the Ttukseom Cup (1400M KOR-G2), the second leg of the Queens’ Tour, Raon The Spurt was sent off as a warm favourite, but at slightly better than even money, ahead of stablemate and last year’s winner Raon First with Eodigana, the winner of the first leg of the series a month ago, third in the market.
As it transpired, the rest were only ever racing for 2nd. Despite being drawn out in gate nine, Lim Gi-won was able to cruise to the front on Raon The Spurt and from then on there was only ever one winner. She crossed the line six-lengths ahead of Raon First, while 78/1 chance Yeonhui Ilchul popped up with an unlikely 3rd. The well-backed pair of Flat Babe and Eodigana were 4th and 5th.
Trainer Park Jong-kon, who in the twilight of his career is training almost exclusively Raon horses, was happy but understated with the one-two.
“Last year we won with Raon First and this year she was 2nd which is quite satisfying”, Park told KRBC in the winner’s circle. “It didn’t matter to me which won the race but Raon The Spurt is a natural front-runner and she broke so well. Raon First is older now and perhaps youth won out this time.”
Jockey Lim Gi-won, who was also riding the first half of a golden double, was more enthusiastic: “I am really excited. I want to first thank the horse, but also the stable-hands and the trainer. I looked behind me when I was leading into the home stretch, and even though I didn’t think we were going very fast, I saw we were clear and comfortable, and I thought then that nothing is going to catch us. We will keep on going with her, I will follow the trainer’s instructions and we will see what she can do next.”
Choi Bum-hyun won the race on Raon First last year and hinted that the baton may be passing in the filly and mare ranks. “She (Raon First) is doing great and is really well, but I am not so sure she is quite as good as she was last year. She hit her absolute peak last autumn (in the President’s Cup).”
An hour later and Raon The Fighter came out and did what Raon The Fighter does. After a pair of defeats to Winner’s Man in the 1800M Korea Cup and 2300M Grand Prix, the drop back to the sprinting ranks has been an inspired move and he was sent off as a prohibitive favourite for the SBS Sports Sprint (1200M KOR-G3), the second leg of the Sprint Series. After is impressive performance in the Busan Ilbo Sprint, Beolmaui Star was 2nd favourite while punters allowed Korea Sprint winner Eoma Eoma to go off at 10/1 following his Busan woes.
As in the first leg, Beolmaui Star led from the gate under Jung Do-yun while Lim Gi-won kept a tight hold on Raon The Fighter in 2nd through the early stages while Eoma Eoma tracked the pair in 3rd. Turning into the straight though, Lim allowed Raon The Fighter to go and the five-year-old quickly put the race to bed.
Beolmaui Star this time couldn’t hold on for a place as Eoma Eoma led the pursuit of the winner ultimately crossing the line two and a half lengths behind Raon The Fighter. Ssonsal put in another big effort in 3rd while the two-time SBS winner Morfhis was 4th, ahead of Beolmaui Star in 5th.
While Winner’s Man may have his number over staying journeys, Raon The Fighter’s explosive pace has established him as the most exciting horse currently at Seoul or Busan. His cuurent target appears to be the Korea Sprint at Seoul in September.
