Hangang Ruby 22/05/09

A First in South Korea for Hangang
A winner has eluded my network. Greg Tobin, Marketing Manager of Eliza Park sent an email to say that Hangang Ruby (ex Shirley's Luvena by El Moxie) won at Busan in Sth Korea at only start on May 22, 2009.
He is a colt, a 2YO out of the 3rd crop and he won by 1.25 lengths at Buson, jockey being S Jung. No mention of who the trainer is.
Shirley's Luvena was covered by Bel Esprit on 29/10/05, sold at the Magic Millions sales in June 2006 for $55,000, exported to Korea on 17th July 2006 and the colt was born there on 25/09/06
The broodmare is another with a double cross to Vain
Received an email from Wordpress, thanks.
Author: gyongmaman
Comment:
Hangang Ruby is owned by Lee Young Sun (who was the eventual purchaser of Shirley's Luvena at the Magic Millions sale) and is trained by Kim Chang Wook at Busan.
As he was foaled in Korea, he is eligible for all Korean-bred races except the classics and some stakes races.
On his one outing, he was ridden by jockey Jung Si Won and led from gate to wire over 5 furlongs. He paid 13.4 to win and 2.3 to place. His time of 1:03.09 was nothing special but fairly normal in Korea.
Busan Racecourse Park
The newest of the three tracks in Korea, Busan Gyeongnam Racecourse Park – to give it its full name – opened in 2005. Located close to Gimhae Airport, just west of Busan, it’s accessible by bus from Gimhae and Busan itself. The KRA runs shuttle buses from Hadan Station on the Busan subway. The track has a Grandstand/betting area capable of holding 32,000 people loosely based on the Luckyville stand at Seoul Race Park.
Busan was built for Friday racing and now runs 10 races each Friday. The races are simulcasted to Seoul and the KRA plazas offering an extra day’s betting. In 2007, the occasional race day was held on a Saturday and in 2008, six races were held each Sunday. This will continue in 2009.
Busan has stables for 1000 horses and 40 jockeys are currently based there. Australian jockey Gary Baker recently completed a 2 year stint at the track riding there from its opening until the end of 2007.
BEL ESPRIT REACHES THE TON
Bel Esprit reached an important milestone with the victory of Baltic Spirit at Bairnsdale on Friday (26 June).
We thought it was winner # 99 for Bel Esprit, but turns out it was 100 individual winners up for the Champion Victorian Sire.
The one that slipped through to the keeper (aka Karl Patterson) was Hangang Ruby, a 3YO colt from the El Moxie mare Shirley’s Luvena, who won his only start at Busan in South Korea on 22 May 2009.
Formerly owned by Paul Crawford’s Real Time Investments and sold for $55,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2006, Shirley’s Luvena was exported to Korea and foaled down her Bel Esprit colt in the September.
Related to Group One winner Showmeran, this is the family of Group One winning juvenile Fully Fledged and multiple Group One placed Rouquin, while the colt is also a close blood relation of Schillaci Stakes-G2 winner Patpong (by Royal Academy).
‘Eagle Eye’ Patterson – whose Thoroughbred Express now appears on the aapracing.com.au website – rarely misses a trick and his stats reveal that Bel Esprit has now had winners in every country that his progeny has competed: i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Hong Kong AND Korea.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s a remarkable tally for a stallion with only three crops of racing age.
He is a shoo in to win successive Victorian sires’ titles (some $500k clear of Reset), he’s 17th on the national chart by winners, and second on the Australian Third Season Sires’ table by winners (second behind Choisir but with a superior strike rate).