3 minute read
The 2020 Korea Cup and Korea Sprint will be run at Seoul Racecourse on Sunday, 13th September 2020.
This year's editions will be the fifth running of the races, both of which boast a purse of 1 Billion Korean Won.
In the previous four runnings, the interntational invitational Korea Cup and Korea Sprint have featured horses trained in the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, France, Great Britain and Ireland. The 2019 Cup was won by Korean Horse of the Year Moonhak Chief while the Sprint went to Blue Chipper, who went on to finish 3rd in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita.
On the domestic front, the Triple Crown kicks off on April 5th with the KRA Cup Mile at Busan. The Korean Derby is at Seoul on May 10th with the Korean Oaks run one week later at Busan on May 17th. The final jewel in the Crown is the Minister's Cup at Seoul on June 14th while the fillies who have gone the Triple Tiara route have the Gyeonggi Governor's Cup, also in tha capital, on June 21st.
After the Oaks, Busan's next most valuable race, the Mayor's Cup, won in 2019 by Dolkong, is in its usual position on the last Sunday in June.
Big autumn features the KRA Cup Classic and President's Cup are both in their traditional spots in early October and November respectively, while the season finale Grand Prix Stakes will have its thirty-ninth running take place on Sunday December 13. All three are at Seoul.
Two new Listed races are on the calender at Busan, both named after horses who were stars of the early years of Busan Racecourse. The Luna Stakes will be run over a mile on April 26th while on September 27th, the Areumdaun Jilju Stakes will take place at 1200M. They will be the first races in Korea to be named in honour of past racehorses.
The first Listed race of the season is the Segye Ilbo Cup at Seoul this coming Sunday January 19. The first Group race is the SROA Chairman's Cup (KOR G3) on March 15.
The full 2020 calender will be posted on the official KRA website soon. In the meantime, racegoers should be aware that there is no racing at any of the tracks in Korea on the weekend of January 24/25/26 due to the Lunar New Year holiday.