Korea Cup & Korea Sprint: Diktaean lifts Korea Cup

Chikappa just misses out on Korea Sprint Crown, stunned by Self Improvement

The JRA was denied a Korea Sprint three-peat by a hair as outstanding betting favourite Chikappa was tipped at the wire by Hong Kong raider Self Improvement on Sunday (September 7) in Seoul.

Chikappa fell short by half a length in the Grade 3 affair. The winning time was 1 minute, 10.5 seconds over 1,200 meters on good, clean dirt.

The Yutaka Take-ridden Chikappa, the 4-year-old colt by former Dubai Turf champion Real Steel out of Uni Chara, started from the outside gate, No. 13 of 13. He traveled slightly off the pace and found an inside lane turning for home to move out in front.

But the 6-year-old Self Improvement, trained by Ka Leung Manfred Man and ridden by Chun Lok Chau, gradually gained with each stride from the outside to turn it into a match race with 200m remaining.

Chikappa looked capable of hanging on for glory but with less than 50m left, gave in to Self Improvement who took the tape first. Remake from Japan had won the Korea Sprint the last two years.

Hopes had been high for the Kazuya Nakatake-trained Chikappa to win his first graded race, domestic or abroad, but that will have to wait for another day.
“He switched on too early at the fourth turn,” Take told reporters after his ride came up short. “Which was unnecessary, unfortunately.”

Also from the JRA, Tagano Beauty and Sunrise Hawk came in fifth and seventh, respectively.

Tagano Beauty, the 8-year-old veteran horse under Shu Ishibashi, was positioned mid-pack and tried to close but could muster no more than five-and-a-half lengths.

Six-year-old gelding Sunrise Hawk, ridden by Kohei Matsuyama and trained by Mitsunori Makiura, was among the leading pack early on but could not keep up.

Diktaean lifts Korea Cup; Ramjet third, Dura Erede fifth

Diktaean, the 7-year-old from Japan’s local circuit, won his first international title in the Korea Cup that followed the Korea Sprint as the eighth race on the card.

The Oi-based gelding trained by Katsunori Arayama came off the pace from the middle of an 11-horse field to go under in 1 minute, 50.8 seconds over the 1,800m on dirt.

The JRA’s Ramjet and Dura Erede followed Diktaean to take third and fifth place, respectively.

Ramjet broke free first down the stretch with Hong Kong’s Chancheng Glory right on the heels of the 4-year-old colt. But as the two went toe to toe and Chancheng Glory, under Chun Lok Chau, began to pull away, Diktaean charged hard from the outside to close by one full length.

Ramjet crossed the finish line another two lengths back. Dura Erede was further behind, trailing home an additional 10 lengths.

The winning jockey, Takayuki Yano, was over the moon over his success aboard the King Kamehameha son out of the dam Medeia.

“I’m so grateful,” Yano said during the post-race interview. “It’s my third time riding in Korea and I count my lucky stars for having the opportunity to ride in a race as big as this.

“I’m really glad we managed a result. We owe it to so many people. I’m thrilled we won and I hope I can come back to Korea.

“We were in a small field which allowed us to grab the position we wanted and make our move when the time was right.”

The winner’s check was 800 million won (88 million yen). Diktaean started his career with the JRA and only moved to the NAR earlier this year.

The Korea Cup earned international graded status in 2022 with Crown Pride from Japan winning the race back-to-back the last two years.

Please visit the following websites for more information.
Korea Racing Authority
Official Result
Korea Cup and Sprint