Horse owner dreams of No. 1 for donation

Park Joung-yul poses with his two-year-old horse Haetbinna between horse stables next to the race track in Gwacheon, Feb. 11. / Korea Times photo by Kim Hyo-jin

By Kim Hyo-jin

Racehorse owner Park Joung-yul says he still has high hopes for his horses. He is determined to realize his dream of reaching the pinnacle of the sport, but for more than just personal glory.

Should his horses prove successful on the big stage, it will provide him with the means to give more to worthy causes.

“I want one of my horses to win a major race so I can donate the prize money,” Park said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

Park, 74, is the CEO of textile manufacturer Shinhan Spinning, but presents himself more as a horse owner than a business chief these days.

Park has owned horses for 22 years, during which he has won a total of 4 billion won ($3.6 million) in prize money. His biggest win so far was second prize in the Korean Derby.

“The expectation of reaching the top keeps me going,” Park said.

Though he has won a huge amount of prize money, Park has spent even more, investing 6 billion won in buying horses.

He explained this was because he had to replace his horses every year.

“Racehorses often suffer respiratory diseases so their life span is short,” Park said. “Also, if they break an ankle on the track, which happens often, it is not curable,” he added.

Racehorse prices vary between 20 million won and over a billion won in the market, he said. Despite the high price, he tries to keep a maximum of 10 horses.

Although it is a “most expensive hobby” as he puts it, Park has never given up on having a champion, making him the longest established racehorse owner in Korea.

Racehorses used to belong to the state-run Korea Racing Authority. Under the Roh Tae-woo administration in the early 1990s, the authority began recruiting horse owners as part of a plan to create a domestic horse racing industry.

Park, then the head of Korea National Oil, applied, having been encouraged by a friend working at Cheong Wa Dae. The government had heavily touted investing in horse racing, guaranteeing a 30 percent return.

The life-time businessman, who had never been exposed to such culture, would soon become passionate about the sport.

“You know the older generation has a fantasy for cowboy movies. Seeing horses running on the track reminded me of a scene from such films. It was just fascinating,” he said.

However, being a horse owner is not an easy job in reality.

“There are few people on our side,” he said, citing the negative perception of horse racing. “Even my family worried if I was too involved in this speculative industry.”

He stressed that the public needs to regard horse racing as other popular sports, considering the size of the industry.

“As much as 7 trillion won a year is spent by people on track betting, which ranks Korea seventh or eighth in the world’s horse racing list,” Park said.

“I hope the government backs horse owners with deregulation. I believe that can only start with changes in the public’s views,” he added.