LetsRun Park Seoul, also known a Seoul Race Park or Seoul Racecourse Park is a 40,000 capacity Korean
thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
racetrack
A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...
in
Gwacheon
Gwacheon () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies close to Seoul in the heart of the Seoul National Capital Area, and also lies just east of Anyang. Seoul Subway Line 4 passes through the city.
Various attractions usually associate ...
,
Gyeonggi-do,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
. It is host to many of Korea's most valuable thoroughbred horse races including the Korean Derby and Grand Prix. LetsRun Park Seoul is located next to
Seoul Racecourse Park Station on
Line 4 of the
Seoul Metropolitan Subway
The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a metropolitan railway system consisting of 23 rapid transit, light metro, commuter rail and people mover lines located in northwest South Korea. The system serves most of the Seoul Metropolitan Area includin ...
. It is operated by the Korea Racing Authority (KRA).
In the
Republic of Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...
, the racecourse has been misleading with the negative image of gambling and speculative facilities and has been distorted into a socially problematic place. It's called 'Park'. The name of the station was changed in 2000.
History
The current site at
Gwacheon
Gwacheon () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies close to Seoul in the heart of the Seoul National Capital Area, and also lies just east of Anyang. Seoul Subway Line 4 passes through the city.
Various attractions usually associate ...
is the third home of LetsRun Park Seoul. The first was at a track in
Sinseol-dong,
Dongdaemun-gu
Dongdaemun District (, "Great Eastern Gate") is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea.
Dongdaemun has a population of 346,770 (2010) and has a geographic area of 14.22 km2 (5.49 sq mi), and is divided into 14 '' dong'' (administrative ne ...
, which was in operation from the early 1920s until just after the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Following the closure of the Sinseol-dong track, a new racetrack was constructed at Ttukseom, on the north bank of the
Han River In February 1983, after South Korea was awarded the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
, the KRA was given the task of organising the equestrian events. The Ttukseom Racetrack was inadequate; the KRA acquired a new site south of Seoul in Gwacheon Gyeonggi-do, where the
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
(except the individual-jumping final) and the riding portion of the
modern pentathlon events were held. After the Olympics, the KRA turned the site into a racetrack.
This is where the headquarters of the Korean Horse Society is located. Gyeongseong Racecourse, which opened in Yongdujeong
Gyeongseong-bu, on September 20, 1928, started as a racecourse. Construction began in 1984 to host the equestrian events of the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul and the
Seoul Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
in 1988, and officially opened on September 1, 1989. Construction began in 1984 and moved to 1989. Until 1998, it was called 'Seoul Racecourse' and then changed to the current name.
Present
The first race at the new LetsRun Park Seoul was held on 1 September 1989. The track can accommodate more than 80,000 spectators; in 2003 a second grandstand, "Luckyville", was opened alongside the existing "Happyville". Races are run on an oval artificial sand-based track with a two-furlong home straight.
As of 2011 live thoroughbred racing takes place on Saturdays and Sundays all year, with 12 races each Saturday and 11 each Sunday. On race day, races are also
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
from the pony-racing track on Jeju Island and the thoroughbred track at Busan-Gyeongnam. Major races at the LetsRun Park Seoul include the Korean Derby in May, the Minister of Agriculture Cup in October, the President's Cup in November and the season-ending Grand Prix in December.
In 2007, the Korean-bred J.S. Hold won the Korean Triple Crown (the Ttukseom Cup, the Korean Derby and the Minister's Cup) at LetsRun Park Seoul. In 2008 the Ttukseom Cup was replaced as the first leg of the Triple Crown by the KRA Cup Mile, which is run at Busan-Gyeongnam Race Park on the first Sunday in April.
In 2009 the champion
jockey at LetsRun Park Seoul was Park Tae Jong, who also holds the record for most wins in Korean racing history. The 2009 Korean Derby was won by a filly, Sangseung Ilro, who had previously won the KRA up Mile at Busan-Gyeongnam. At the end of each season, racing fans in Korea can vote for which horses they wish to take part in the traditional season-ending Grand Prix race. In 2009, the American-bred Dongbanui Gangja won the race for the second consecutive year.
Notable races
See also
*
Racing in Korea
*
Gwacheon
Gwacheon () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies close to Seoul in the heart of the Seoul National Capital Area, and also lies just east of Anyang. Seoul Subway Line 4 passes through the city.
Various attractions usually associate ...
*
Thoroughbred racing
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing i ...
References
External links
*
Korea Racing Blog – News, Results & Picks과천시청
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동인천역 파크푸르지오
Horse racing venues in South Korea
Venues of the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic equestrian venues
Olympic modern pentathlon venues
Sports venues in Gyeonggi Province
Buildings and structures in Gwacheon
Venues of the 1986 Asian Games
Asian Games equestrian venues