Korea Cup to feature top race horses

The barrier draw for the Korea Cup was held at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in southern Seoul, Thursday. The Korea Cup will take place at LetsRun Park Seoul in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. / Courtesy of Korea Racing Authority

By Baek Byung-yeul

The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) is providing a rare opportunity for people to witness the world’s greatest racehorses this Sunday as the country’s sole horse-racing operator inaugurates the Korea Cup at LetsRun Park Seoul in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.

The Korea Cup offers a purse of 1.7 billion won ($1.54 million), the highest prize in Korea’s horse-racing history. The KRA said the event will be contested in two categories ― a 1,200-meter Korea Sprint race worth 700 million won and a 1,800-meter Korea Cup race worth 1 billion won.

More than 100 countries have horse racing and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) has divided them into three categories, depending on the size of their horse-racing industry.

Korea was in part 3, but after establishing international events, such as exchange races with the Japan Racing Association and the Singapore Turf Club over the past three years, the country was promoted to part 2 last July.

With the Korea Cup as “a foundation stone,” the KRA said it has set a goal to join part 1 by 2022, the centennial of the first horse race in Korea.

“Korea is now categorized with part 2 countries, such Singapore and Sweden, 94 years after its first horse race,” said Park Yang-tae, the KRA’s executive director of racing.

He said hosting the Korea Cup will be “a leap for the country’s horse-racing industry to move forward to the next level. We will do our utmost to become a part 1 country by 2022.”

The Korea Cup is sponsored by the U.S.-based Keeneland Association, the world’s largest thoroughbred sales company.

“Keeneland is pleased to team with KRA in this exciting new racing endeavor,” Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason said. “For many years, Keeneland has enjoyed a successful partnership with Korea and its horsemen through our premier horse sales. We now look forward to supporting the KRA as they prepare to welcome the world to Seoul.”

The Korea Sprint race will begin at 4:25 p.m. while the Korea Cup will start at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.