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Blue Chipper has arrived at Seoul Racecourse, the first stop-off on his journey to Santa Anita where he will aim to become the first ever Korea-trained horse to take part in a Breeders’ Cup race.
The 2019 Keeneland Korea Sprint (KOR G1) winner, Blue Chipper will spend four days in pre-export quarantine in Seoul before flying from Incheon to Los Angeles where he will be entered for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
Korea-trained horses have raced overseas before, in Japan, Singapore and the UAE. Most notable so far is Dolkong, who won the Listed Curlin Handicap at the Dubai World Cup Carnival earlier this year, earning a run in the World Cup itself. Should Blue Chipper line up at the Breeders' Cup, however, it would make for a significant milestone.
Blue Chipper [Tiznow – Dixie City (Dixie Union)] was bred in Kentucky by Diamond A Racing Corp. and is a four-year-old gelding who has won seven of his eight lifetime starts. He was a four-length winner on debut as a juvenile at Busan in September 2017, having arrived in Korea in June of that year.
He then suffered what is to date his only defeat when last in the Gyeongnam Do Min Ilbo Cup, Busan's top race for imported two-year-olds. Blue Chipper ran once more that year, returning to winning ways with a three-length score on New Year's Ever over 1200M.
Blue Chipper did not race again for more than a year with a number of setbacks meaning he spent almost his entire three-year-old year spelled with only occasional trips to the racetrack to trial. He finally returned to action in April of 2019 and picked up where he left off, scoring by thirteen-lengths over 1200M.
That win was followed up by two more with a combined winning margin of eighteen lengths before Blue Chipper tackled a Korean Graded race for the first time, the Busan Owners' Cup (KOR G3) at the end of July. It was his first try at a mile but that didn't trouble him as he romped away from a high class field to win by ten-lengths in track-record time.
International weekend was up next at Seoul and Blue Chipper was sent to the 1 Billion Won Keeneland Korea Sprint (KOR G1) back down at 1200M. Despite being drawn in gate 13, he was sent off as favourite and duly made it to the pace early. He would eventually shake off local rival Gaon Champ and run on to win by a length and a half becoming the first locally-trained horse to win the Korea Sprint.
Seemingly out of challenges in Korea for the time being, Blue Chipper will now be taken overseas and will move back up to a mile for his biggest challenge. If he adapts to the Santa Anita dirt, he's not to be taken lightly.
TRAINER: Kim Young-kwan took out a full training license in 2004 and has been based at Busan Racecourse since its opening in 2005. He won his first Graded Race later that year when his filly Luna, won the Gyeongnam Governor's Cup (KOR G3). Since then, he has gone on to become Korea's most decorated trainer, topping the Busan Trainers' Championship on eleven occasions and has won the traditional "Big 4" races of Korean Derby, Korean Oaks, President's Cup and Grand Prix Stakes, five times each.
Kim Young-kwan trained Power Blade to win all three legs of the Korean Triple Crown in 2015 and trained Triple Nine to win four consecutive President's Cups between 2015 and 2018. In 2017, he took both of those horses to the Dubai World Cup Carnival and has also taken horses to Singapore. As of October 2019, he has career figures of 1217 winners from 5352 starters.
OWNER: Choi Byeong-bu has been a registered owner since 2010. In addition to Blue Chipper, he also owns four-time President's Cup winner Triple Nine.
