Naol Sniper finished 2nd in both Seoul’s Classic Trial and also the Korean Derby, but he can go one better as the nation’s top-three-olds reassemble under the floodlights at Seoul Racecourse on Saturday evening in the Minister’s Cup (2000M KOR-G2), the final leg of the 2023 Korean Triple Crown.
Having skipped the first leg of the Triple Crown, the KRA Cup Mile, Naol Sniper finished off the Derby well but couldn’t get within striking range of winner Global Hit. The To Honor And Serve colt should relish the additional furlong in the Minister’s Cup and can come out on top this time with Moon Se-young on board.
Nine of the Derby field return. They include Global Hit, who finished smartly up the fence to win the Korean Derby with his jockey Kim Hye-sun becoming the first female rider to win the race. The pair unite once more for the Minister’s Cup with the extended trip not likely to be a problem. Whether the Derby was his peak is the only question.
Nut Play ran 4th in the Cup Mile and 3rd in the Derby. Throughout his career to date, he has looked as though the longer the distance gets, the better he will get, and he finally gets a chance to tackle 2000M. He does though tend to get quite far back in his races and then, while he himself is still full of running, get confronted with a wall of tiring horses. With another big field of sixteen, Antonio Da Silva is going to have to do some skilful navigating.
Something Lost was 2nd in the Cup Mile but just like he did in the Derby, he has drawn the widest gate and faces an uphill task. Dragon Star, 3rd in the Cup Mile and 5th in the Derby, and Dokki Bulpae, who led the Derby before ultimately finishing 4th, also return.
A newcomer to the Triple Crown series is Giant Indy. A rapid improver over the past few months, the Luigi Riccardi trained colt has won his latest three up to class 4 level and 1700M. The 2000M should suit him well and big race jockey Lim Gi-won climbs aboard for the first time.
In other news this weekend, Turkish jockey Furkan Yuksel will make his Seoul debut on Saturday. The 27-year-old was Champion Apprentice in Turkey in 2015 and has ridden 596 winners from 6347 races. He has four rides across the weekend, with three of them being for trainer Tony Castanheira.
Minister’s Cup Selections: (11) Naol Sniper (3) Global Hit (15) Nut Play (12) Giant Indy
