LetsRun Park Seoul

Did You Know?

• The station name was changed to Seoul Racecourse Park in 2000.
• In 2009, the Korean Derby was won by a filly named Sangseung Ilro, who had previously won the KRA Cup Mile at Busan-Gyeongnam.
• The American-bred Dongbanui Gangja won the Grand Prix in 2009 for the second consecutive year.
• The track's outer perimeter is 1800m, with an inner 1600m and a 1000m auxiliary 400m sand track.
• The goal is to maintain an average sand thickness of 7 cm on the track.

History

The current site at Gwacheon is the third home of LetsRun Park Seoul. The first track operated in Sinseol-dong from the early 1920s until after the Korean War, followed by a track at Ttukseom on the Han River. After South Korea was awarded the 1988 Summer Olympics, the Korea Racing Authority was tasked with organizing the equestrian events. The Ttukseom Racetrack was inadequate, so a new site was acquired in Gwacheon, where the equestrian events (except the individual jumping final) and the riding portion of the modern pentathlon were held. Construction began in 1984 to host the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics, and the venue officially opened on September 1, 1989. Until 1998, it was called Seoul Racecourse.

Present

LetsRun Park Seoul opened for racing on September 1, 1989. Its oval, artificial sand track features a two-furlong home straight and can hold over 80,000 people. The original Happyville grandstand was joined by a second, Luckyville, in 2003. As of 2011, live thoroughbred racing runs year-round on Saturdays (12 races) and Sundays (11 races). The track hosts the Korean Derby in May, the Minister of Agriculture Cup in October, the President's Cup in November, and the Grand Prix in December. In 2007, J.S. Hold captured the Korean Triple Crown here. Jockey Park Tae Jong, who holds the all-time Korean wins record, was the track's champion rider in 2009.