The First Hurdle of Three Short-Distance Races: ‘Busan Ilbo Cup’
The first stage of the 'Sprinter Series,' which determines the best domestic sprinter, the 'Busan Ilbo Cup (G3)' target race, will be held as the 6th race on April 2 at Korea Racing Authority's LetsRun Park Busan-Gyeongnam.
The Sprinter Series consists of three 1200m races: the 'Busan Ilbo Cup,' 'SBS Sports Sprint (G3),' and 'Seoul Jockey Club President's Cup (G3).' The horse with the highest cumulative points from these races will be crowned this year's best sprinter and receive a 100 million KRW incentive.
Marking its 17th edition this year, the 'Busan Ilbo Cup' target race offers a total prize of 500 million KRW, where top racehorses from Seoul and Busan will compete over 1200m.
Defending champion 'Eomaeoma,' who proved to be the strongest sprinter by winning last year's 'Korea Sprint (G1),' is aiming for a second consecutive victory. Meanwhile, many fans are keenly watching to see if 'Raon the Fighter,' with a 100% exacta rate and winner and runner-up finishes in last year’s and the year before’s 'Seoul Jockey Club President's Cup,' can stop him.
Five major racehorses challenging for the title of the strongest sprinter in this race are expected to compete fiercely.
Eomaeoma (Seoul, trainer Song Moon-gil) is the strongest sprinter with wins in last year’s 'Busan Ilbo Cup,' 'Korea Sprint,' and 'International Newspaper Cup (L).' He achieved a seven-race winning streak from October 2020 to October 2021.
Raon the Fighter (Seoul, trainer Park Jong-gon) has shown consistent performance with 13 wins and 4 second-place finishes out of 17 starts, ranking second in the integrated Seoul-Busan-Gyeongnam rating.
Wow Wow (Seoul, trainer Song Moon-gil) has been improving steadily, finishing within the top two in all races since July except for a 1600m race last November. In January this year, he surprised everyone by winning the 'Segye Ilbo Cup (L),' beating strong favorites.
Daehan Jilju (Seoul, trainer Kim Dong-cheol) achieved six consecutive wins in all races from May to December 2021. He placed second in last year's 'International Newspaper Cup.'
Thorns Sal (Busan, trainer Lee Sang-young) is one of the older horses in the field, having started his first race as a 3-year-old in March 2019 with a win and consistently placing in the top ranks in most 3- and 4-year-old races except for target races.
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