16th Owners Cup Victory, ‘Seokseus Macho’ ... Redemption After Three Attempts

On the 9th, at Korea Racing Authority's LetsRun Park Busan-Gyeongnam, 'Seokseuseu Macho,' ridden by jockey Yoo Hyun-myung, won the '16th Owners Cup (G3, 1600m)' feature race.

This year's Owners Cup, which was expected to be a close contest due to the small skill gap among the participating horses, featured 7 horses from Seoul and 9 horses from Busan.

Most of the participating horses had no prior wins in feature races, and the proportion of older horses was notable. Among them, the horse that attracted the most attention from fans was 'Daehan Jilju.'

At the beginning of the race, 'Daehan Jilju,' 'Pro Kansel,' and 'Heunghaeng Jilju' took an early lead, but in the final 300m straight before the finish line, horses that were not visible in the leading group began to make a late charge, resulting in a dramatic turnaround.

'Seokseuseu Macho' and 'Yes Perfect' took the lead with their fast speed, and 'Heunghaeng Jilju,' who increased its spurt until the end, joined the three-way battle just before the 100m mark to the finish line.

After a close contest, 'Seokseuseu Macho' edged out 'Yes Perfect' by a head (approximately 22?40cm) to claim victory.

The 16th Owners Cup race scene.

'Seokseuseu Macho' showed poor results in its first feature race appearances at the 2021 and 2022 Owners Cups, but having consistently participated in feature races such as the Korea Cup (G1) and the International Newspaper Cup, it finally lifted its first trophy on its third Owners Cup attempt, avenging past disappointments.

Owner Lee Jang-hyun achieved his first feature race win since debuting as an owner, and for Busan-Gyeongnam's leading jockey Yoo Hyun-myung, who returned after a 5-month hiatus due to a fall accident, this was also his first victory since his comeback.

Relatively underestimated in terms of placing expectations, 'Seokseuseu Macho' recorded high odds with a win payout of 17.6 times, a place payout of 45.6 times, and an exacta payout of 103.7 times. The trifecta, which requires correctly picking the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place horses in order, paid 7,391.0 times, while the trifecta box, which requires picking the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place horses regardless of order, paid 2,054.5 times.

The 2023 Korea Premier Series, which began with the Owners Cup, will continue on September 10 at LetsRun Park Seoul with the Korea Cup (G1, 1800m) and Korea Sprint (G1, 1200m), providing exciting competition against overseas racehorses.

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