1

Great Winner

By a Korean Derby winner, he has won two of three starts since being promoted to class 1 level. His latest was a six-length score over 1800m on 13th July when he led from gate to wire. 5th behind Success Baekpa in the final leg of last year’s Triple Crown. He will want to be on pace and draws well to do so.

2

Chancheng Glory

A mainstay in Group races in Hong Kong, the most recent of the five-year-old’s eight wins came in the G3 Centenary Vase in January and he has also placed at G1 level. How he takes to the sand track will be key with all his racing experience coming on the Sha Tin turf, but he is bred for it, and Hong Kong-trained horses with fewer credentials than him have run well in previous editions of both Cup and Sprint. He rates as a big chance and draws well.

3

Ramjet

A winner of five from twelve, four-year-old Ramjet has been running in elite company finishing off last campaign with 3rd place in the Tokyo Daishoten behind Forever Young, earning him a trip to both the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup running 6th and 9th respectively. He last ran 6th in the Teio Sho in July but this race has long been the target. Tactically versatile, he generally sits midfield and aims to run on. He has looked very good in morning work and shapes as the one to beat.

4

Success Baekpa

A two-time Korean G2 winner in 2024, he downed Global Hit by four lengths to win the KRA Cup Classic (2000m) at the start of August, having tracked his rival on the pace throughout. That added to the Herald Business Cup (2000m) he won earlier in the year again from on pace. The best chance among the local horses, he is tactically versatile and has a strong finish.

5

Galaxy Road

A good 5th at odds in excess of 155/1 in this race last year before running 5th in the President’s Cup (2000m) and then well back in the Grand Prix (2300m). He has missed most of this season through injury but came back on 15th August and ran a solid 3rd at class 1 over 2000m, coming from off the pace. He should strip fitter for that run, but it will take a big leap for him to be close here.

6

Dura Erede

Remarkably the five-year-old hasn’t won since his two-year-old campaign, but he has been racing against the very best ever since. He was 5th in the 2024 Dubai World Cup. Across the turn of the year, Dura Erede ran 3rd in the G1 Champions Cup behind Lemon Pop at Chukyo and then 3rd again to Sunday Funday in the G2 Procyon Stakes at the same track. His latest start saw him finish midfield in the G3 Elm Stakes at Sapporo on 9th August, a run he can benefit from in Seoul.

7

Diktaean

Veteran seven-year-old and a four-time listed / group winner in Japan, he has a 2nd and two 4th place finishes to his name this year, all at JPN G1 and G2 level, most recently in the Teio Sho at Oi in July, where he beat Ramjet when coming from off the pace. He is not to be dismissed, and jockey Takayuki Yano has previous experience of Seoul.

8

Speed Young

A Swiss army knife of a horse, he was the best placed local in last year’s Korea Sprint, but he has won at up to 2000m. His last win was more than year ago but he always runs in Group company and placed in all three legs of the Stayer Series behind Global Hit and Success Baekpa this year. Likes to settle back and run on.

9

Something Lost

The only horse trained at Seoul to show up as all the other locals have travelled from Busan. Something Lost is a sprinter, although as a three-year-old, he did run 2nd in the KRA Cup Mile and then 5th in the Minister’s Cup (2000m). He took part in the Sprint Series this year but made little impact and he tries something very different here. He probably isn’t backable.

10

Tuhonui Banseok

Multiple Group race winner and 6th in this race in 2023, but it has been a while since he showed his best form. Unplaced in four outings this year, all of them in group company, and most recently 7th behind Success Baekpa in the KRA Cup Classic. In his Group winning days, he used to race on pace but recently has been settling back. Hard for him on current form.

11

Star Matta

Enters in good form with a class 1 win two starts back over 1400m before running 5th of ten over 1800m behind Great Winner on 13th July. Tends to settle back and he does have a decent finish on him but previous attempts in Group company haven’t gone well enough to suggest he can make an impact here.