Korea Cup (horse racing)

Not to be confused with Korea Cup, held from 1971 to 1999.
For the association football event, see Korean FA Cup.
Korea Cup
Winner's Man in the 2022 Korea Cup
ClassGI • IGII
LocationLetsRun Park Seoul
Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
InauguratedSeptember 11, 2016 (2016-09-11)
Race typeThoroughbred
SponsorOBS
Websitehttps://www.koreacup.kr
Race information
Distance1800 meters
(about 9 furlongs / 1+1⁄10 miles)
RecordLondon Town, 1:50.6
SurfaceDirt
TrackLeft-handed
Qualification3-year-olds & up, Thoroughbreds (safety factor: 16 horses; up to four foreign-trained starters are allowed in the race)
Weight3-year-old 55 kg / 4-year-old & up 57 kg
Allowances
Purse₩ 1,600,000,000 (as of 2025)
1st: ₩ 800,000,000
2nd: ₩ 320,000,000
3rd ₩ 160,000,000

The Korea Cup (KG1; Korean: 코리아컵) is a Group 3 horse race in South Korea held annually in September at LetsRun Park Seoul in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. It is a flat race run over a distance of 1800 meters (about 1+1⁄10 miles, or 9 furlongs) with a maximum of 16 horses.

First run in 2016, the Korea Cup was created by the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) in order to strengthen the international economic power of Korean horse racing and promote exchanges with world-class horse racing countries.[1] It is often one of the most attended races of the year hosted by the KRA, regularly reaching 30,000 people in attendance.[2][3] Along with the Korea Sprint, it is also the only international grade race hosted in Korea.[4]

While this race is the youngest among Korea's graded stakes, it carries significant weight. inaugurated to prove Korea's readiness for international competition, it boasts the nation's highest purse of roughly 1.6 billion KRW (110,000 USD) to attract top contenders and validate its status. In 2019, the race was temporarily converted to a domestic event due to the Japan–South Korea trade dispute,[5] while in 2020 and 2021, it was cancelled due to COVID-19.[6][7] The race was upgraded to International Graded (IGIII) status in 2022 along with the Korea Sprint,[8] and was designated as a 'Win and You're In' challenge race for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in 2024.[9] Furthermore, in 2026, it was promoted to IGII graded [10]

Course

The Korea Cup is held at the LetsRun Park Seoul (Seoul Racecourse), situated in the southern Seoul suburb of at Gwacheon. At 1,600 metres long, the race is ran counter-clockwise around the Racecourse's oval Dirt track.

Resembling a velodrome, the track features a straight finish line and an uphill section with a 2m elevation gain from the 4th corner. The curves are banked at about 1.5m. The track is 30m wide in front of the observation deck and 25m elsewhere. The surface consists of a 7cm layer of Sand, sitting atop a base composed of Decomposed granite and gravel, each about 30cm thick.[11] The sand track is deep.

Race history

The establishment of the Korea Cup was not a sudden occurrence. It was part of the internationalization efforts consistently pursued by the Korea Racing Authority and was included in the "Horse Racing Innovation Measures" announced in 2007. The goal at the time was to host international races by 2015–2016 as part of a three-stage plan, and the Korea Cup and the Korea Sprint were the results of this initiative.[12] There were no international races in Korea until the Korea Cup and Korea Sprint were established in 2016.

The first Korea Cup was held in 2016. The final international lineup was confirmed to include Japanese contenders such as the Japan Dirt Derby winner Chrysolite and Kurino Star O.[13][14] In Korea, attention focused on the President's Cup winner Triple Nine and the 2016 Triple Crown achiever Power Blade.[15]

Records

Leading horse:[16][17]

  • 2 - London Town (2017, 2018)
  • 2 - Crown Pride (2023, 2024)

Leading Jockey:[18]

  • Fastest winning time: London Town (2018): 1:50.6[19]
  • Slowest winning time: Moonhak Chief (2019) : 1:53.3[20]
  • Largest margin of victory: 15 lengths - London Town (2018)[19]
  • Shortest margin of victory: 1 lengths - Winner's Man (2022). Diktaean (2025)[21][22]
  • Oldest winning horse: Diktaean (2025); aged 7[22]
  • Youngest winning horse: London Town (2017), Moonhak Chief (2019), Winner's Man (2022). Crown Pride (2023); all aged 3[23]

Winner

Winners of the Korea Cup
Year Winner Age Time Jockey owner Top 5 Purse Competition Rating References
2016  Chrysolite (JPN) 6 1:52.3  Kanichiro Fujii (JPN)  Hidetaka Otonashi (JPN) ₩900,000,000 (Domestic racing) [24]
2017  London Town (JPN) 4 1:50.7  Yasunari Iwata (JPN)  Makita Kazuya (JPN) ₩900,000,000 104.75 [25]
2018  London Town (JPN) 5 1:50.6  Yasunari Iwata (JPN)  Makita Kazuya (JPN) ₩900,000,000 104 [26]
2019  Moonhak Chief (KOR) 4 1:53.3  Moon Se-young (KOR)  Kim Sun-geun (KOR) ₩900,000,000 104.25 [27]
2022  Winner's Man (KOR) 4 1:53.1  Seo Seung-yoon (KOR)  Lee kyung-hee (KOR) ₩900,000,000 109.5 [28]
2023  Crown Pride (JPN) 4 1:51.5  Yuga Kawada (JPN)  Koichi Shintani (JPN) ₩1,404,000,000 112 [29]
2024  Crown Pride (JPN) 5 1:51.8  Takeshi Yokoyama (JPN)  Koichi Shintani (JPN) ₩1,404,000,000 114 [30]
2025  Diktaean (JPN) 7 1:50.8  Takayuki Yano (JPN)  Katsunori Ariyama (JPN) ₩1,404,000,000 - [31]

See also

References

  1. ^ "'코리아컵' 글로벌 명마 한자리에...위상 높아진 K-경마". 2024.
  2. ^ "[경마]짜릿한 박진감으로 3만 관중 압도한 '제8회 OBS 코리아컵·코리아스프린트(IGⅢ)' 성료". Nate (web portal). 2025-09-11.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "2025 Korea Cup". 2025.
  4. ^ "2026년 서울경마 대상특별경주 시행 계획". KRA.
  5. ^ ""코리아컵·스프린트, 일본 경주마 배제는 스포츠 정신 어긋나"". 말산업저널 (in Korean). 2019-10-17. Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  6. ^ "한국마사회, 9월 코리아컵·코리아 스프린트 국제대회 취소". Yonhap News Agency. 2020-08-27.
  7. ^ "한국마사회 '코리아컵'은 결국 취소, 4분기 경마 운영 계획은 ? : 부산경남마주협회". broa.co.kr (in Korean). 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  8. ^ "한국경마는 비약 발전 중". HorseBiz. 2019-06-24.
  9. ^ "DEFENDING CHAMPION CROWN PRIDE AND WINNERS MAN LEAD KOREA CUP". Breeders' Cup. 2024.
  10. ^ 한국마사회 경마방송 KRBC (2026-03-21). [더비온 동시 Live] 3월 21일 (토) 서울 9R, 10R, 11R 해설중계 라이브!. Retrieved 2026-03-22 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "서울경마 경주로 구조". KRA.
  12. ^ "2016년 코리아컵 국제 초청경주 열린다!". HorseBiz.
  13. ^ "17억 걸린 '말들의 잔치' 11일 과천에서 열린다". 한국일보 (in Korean). 2016-09-09. Retrieved 2026-01-08.
  14. ^ "クリノスターオー (Kurino Star O) | 競走馬データ". netkeiba (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-01-08.
  15. ^ "한국경마사상 최고 상금, 제1회 '코리아컵' 개최". 부산일보. 2016-09-08.
  16. ^ "제3회 코리아컵(GⅠ) 경마대회 – '런던타운' 2연패, 한국경마 역부족이었다". HorseBiz.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ 한국마사회 경마방송 KRBC (2024-09-08). [2024 OBS 코리아컵 후기] 디펜딩 챔피언이 보여주는 우승의 정석. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "주요 동정 소식". board.kra.co.kr. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
  19. ^ a b "2018년 09월 09일 (일) 제9경주 서울 경주 성적표". KRA. 2018-09-09.
  20. ^ "2019년 09월 08일 (일) 제8경주 서울 경주 성적". KRA. 2018-09-08.
  21. ^ "2022년 09월 04일 (일) 제8경주 서울 경주 성적표". KRA. 2022-09-04.
  22. ^ a b "2025년 09월 07일 (일) 제8경주 서울 경주성적표". KRA. 2025-09-07.
  23. ^ "역대 대상경주 우승마 (코리아컵 (G1))". KRA. 2025-01-05.
  24. ^ Hong Kim (2019-12-19). 제1회 코리아컵,크리솔라이트 우승. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  25. ^ 한국마사회 경마방송 KRBC (2017-09-10). 2017 코리아컵 서울8경주. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ KBS Joy (2018-09-10). 2018 코리아컵 & 코리아스프린트 - 1800M 런던타운 1등!. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  27. ^ KBS N Sports (2019-09-08). 2019 코리아컵 1800M 중장거리 경주, 우승은 11번마 문학치프 & 문세영 기수! [2019 코리아컵 & 코리아스프린트 경마] 20190908. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ 한국마사회 경마방송 KRBC (2022-09-04). 2022 코리아컵! 우승은 위너스맨! 서승운 기수!. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  29. ^ 한국마사회 경마방송 KRBC (2023-09-10). [2023 코리아컵] 크라운프라이드 우승! 2위 글로리아먼디 + 특별한 손님⭐. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ 한국마사회 경마방송 KRBC (2024-09-08). [2024 OBS 코리아컵 후기] 디펜딩 챔피언이 보여주는 우승의 정석. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
  31. ^ 한국마사회 경마방송 KRBC (2025-09-07). [2025 코리아컵 후기/Korea Cup Behind the scene] 일본 딕테이언diktaean 우승! ENG JPN YUE. Retrieved 2026-01-05 – via YouTube.
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