‘White Queen’ Wins the 1st ‘Luna Stakes’ with a Comeback Victory

The 1st Luna Stakes Grand Race Held on the 12th at Korea Racing Authority Let's Run Park Busan-Gyeongnam

At Korea Racing Authority's LetsRun Park Busan-Gyeongnam, 'White Queen' won the 1st 'Luna Stakes' Grade 1 race.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] On the 12th, at Korea Racing Authority’s LetsRun Park Busan-Gyeongnam, the 1st ‘Luna Stakes (L) (3-year-old, filly, 1600m, total prize 300 million KRW)’ feature race was held, where ‘White Queen’ claimed victory and earned the title of ‘the second Luna.’

The Luna Stakes feature race is the first gateway of the ‘Triple Tiara’ series, which determines the best 3-year-old domestic filly racehorse, and it opened the season this year. The name ‘Luna’ attached to the race refers to a racehorse active at Busan-Gyeongnam Race Park from 2004 to 2009, who overcame a congenital disability and showed brilliant performance, becoming a legend among domestic fillies.

The Korea Racing Authority planned the ‘Triple Tiara’ series to encourage the production of domestic fillies that would continue Luna’s legend, designating the first gateway as the ‘Luna Stakes.’ The ‘Triple Tiara’ consists of three races: starting with the ‘Luna Stakes,’ followed by the August Busan-Gyeongnam ‘Korea Oaks (GⅡ),’ and the September Seoul ‘Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup (GⅢ).’

To participate in the inaugural Luna Stakes, many fillies from Seoul and Busan-Gyeongnam declared their entries. Notably, queen candidates such as ‘Tutu Great,’ offspring of ‘Gyeongbu-daero,’ who has swept the President’s Cup and the Grand Prix; ‘Raon Yeogeol,’ who has gained experience in feature races since age two; ‘Raon First,’ winner of last year’s Gwacheon Mayor’s Cup; and ‘Lady Kelly,’ who is writing an undefeated streak, all competed.

In the first start of the Triple Tiara under the monsoon rain, White Queen (Korean, rating 58, owner Park Jeong-jae, trainer Park Jae-woo), partnered with jockey Lim Gi-won, took the lead initially but soon yielded to Raon First (Korean, rating 63, owner Raon Industrial Development, trainer Park Jong-gon) ridden by jockey Park Tae-jong. Choegang Touch and Tutu Great closely pursued, shaping the race.

Entering the home stretch, as Raon First’s pace slowed, White Queen succeeded in overtaking about 300 meters before the finish line and showed strong stamina to cross the finish line first, becoming the winner of the 1st Luna Stakes.

White Queen, who took first place, is an offspring of ‘Hansen,’ famous for producing sprinters. Although this was her first 1600m race, she had honed her skills by winning 1400m and 1300m races. Moreover, she had shown perfect harmony with jockey Lim Gi-won, winning three out of four races together before this race, raising high expectations among racing fans.

Jockey Lim Gi-won said, “White Queen is a racehorse with good starting power and endurance, so despite a poor start gate, the race developed well,” and added, “I want to express my gratitude to White Queen and the caretakers who brought today’s victory. I hope COVID-19 settles soon so we can meet again at the race park as soon as possible.”

This Luna Stakes feature race was held without spectators to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.