Irwin, Hansen Break New Ground in Korea

Friday's first race at Busan, one of the two active Thoroughbred tracks in Korea, might have been any run-of-the-mill maiden race. This contest, however, held one interesting distinction. For the first time ever in Korea, the name of a U.S.-based owner–one Barry Howard Irwin–appeared in the past performance lines.

The Korea Racing Authority, which like Japan's JHRA runs nearly every aspect of racing in its country, had long restricted ownership to native-born Koreans. Earlier this year, however, several major changes were made to the industry program. The stakes schedule was revamped, and a new rating system was implemented to facilitate more competitive races. And the KRA relaxed its ownership policy…at least a little. The KRA granted a small number of licenses to outside owners–fewer than 10, it appears–including two to U.S.-based owners: Irwin, and Dr. Kendall Hansen. 

Hansen is best known as the owner and breeder of the eponymously named champion Hansen, who stood at Ashford Stud for a season before being purchased by the KRA to stand in Korea).

A key term in that last paragraph, and the first, is '-based.' Also licensed was Dr. Joe Dallao, an American-born businessman who lives in Seoul. We'll get back to him later.

Other foreigners licensed were Macau's Thomas Li, CEO of the Macau Jockey Club; Japan's Katsumi Yoshida, president of Northern Farm; Australia's Arthur Inglis, of sale company fame; Eric Koh, a stipendiary steward and racing manager at the Singapore Turf Club; and Japan's Shigeo Kadono.

Irwin, the founder and CEO of the racing syndicate Team Valor International, took advantage of his new license and traveled to Korea in April to purchase two horses at the Jeju 2-Year-Old Sale–a colt (later gelded) by Hawk Wing, and a filly by Vicar. Because the KRA doesn't allow racing partnerships, Irwin purchased the two horses on his own account, not through Team Valor.

It was the Hawk Wing gelding, named Swoop (Kor), who debuted at Busan Friday. Swoop finished ninth of 12 at 9-2 odds–the fourth choice in the betting. Maybe that wasn't the debut Irwin was hoping for–for either his horse or himself. But Swoop had some excuses.

“Swoop shied away from the kickback,” said Irwin, noting the notoriously harsh kickback in Korea. “He ran without any headgear whatsoever and it showed. He will get something next time to help him deal with it.”

In some ways, no matter what Swoop goes on to do, his symbolic impact off the track is likely to be greater than anything he could do on it. Irwin knows this is testing ground for the KRA, which received some blowback from local owners, trainers and breeders about cracking the door to foreign investment.

But it's a also testing ground for Irwin, too.

“I'll add more horses, but it's a learning curve,” said Irwin. “I bought these two, and I'll see how many mistakes I make. Everything with racing is trial and error. I'll see what I learn with these, and then I'll get more into it. I would say that within four years, I hope to have 10 horses and maybe a stallion. And I'd like to breed some–that would be fun.”

But how did Irwin gain interest, and gain access, to the Korean industry in the first place? For that, Irwin credits the aforementioned Joe Dallao, a Team Valor partner who is based in Seoul.

“Joe is from New York City, and a horseplayer, and he had bought a few horses with us,” Irwin explained. “He applied for an owner's license last year, and was granted one this year. He was the first foreigner to get one, even though he lives there. He was trying to get some other owners, too, and so I applied.”

Korea has set some ground rules for the new foreign owners. First, they must buy four Korean-bred horses before trying to ship in one foreign-bred horse. Second, the limit of horses a foreign owner can own is capped at 10. This isn't so different than the restrictions on Korean owners here, who can have only 10 horses in training at the track at any given time (though they can have more at the various training centers around the country).

Irwin says the structure of the Korean racing industry has been designed to protect the owner from too much exposure, while also providing for some of the typically unsung members of a stable's team. “The trainers' fees are capped at $2,000 a month, which includes vet bills,” Irwin said. “If you win, the trainer gets 7%, the jockeys–who are also paid a salary–get 7%, and the groom gets 8%, which is something that warms the cockles of my heart,” said Irwin.

Said Irwin, “The KRA wants to provide jobs, they want to provide some entertainment, and they are not there necessarily to make trainers rich,” he said.

Irwin's two horses are trained by the South African Bart Rice, a Busan-based conditioner recommended to him by Dallao.

Korea's purse structure also differs from the U.S. model, in that it represents a sort of inverted pyramid, with maidens running for the lowest purses, and horses with more wins on their cards going for bigger pots. In America, things are less linear. Maiden specials are often the third-highest purses a horse will run for, behind stakes and allowance company, but ahead of most claiming races.

“If you win a maiden race here, you win about $20,000,” said Irwin. “Each condition win after that, you win another $10,000.”

The new rating system in Korea is comprised of racing classes, where horses are assigned a handicap weight and grouped together, in 20-pound increments, by that weight. There are six classes for Korean-bred horses, and four for foreign-bred horses. There are no claiming races. Every unraced Korean-bred horse starts at Class 6 and progresses upwards. Foreign-born horses start at Class 4, meaning Classes 5 and 6 are restricted to Korean-breds. There are also races in Classes 3 and 4 that are restricted to Korean-breds, while all Class 1 and 2 races are open. Up until recently, horses could go up the ladder, but not down. So a talented horse struggling to regain form and/or confidence might have had a hard time of it. That's now changed, giving track handicappers much more leeway. There are also different conditions and race distances within a given class to help a horse find his or her most appropriate spot.

To give you an idea about purse levels, we looked at Sunday's racing at Seoul. The Class 6 races on the card go for total purse money of about $21,000 each. The Class 5 races go for $34,000, the Class 4 races for $46,000, and the Class 3 races for $60,000. In addition to Sunday's feature, the $340,000 Asia Challenge Cup, the card has another open-class highlight, the $255,000 KRA Cup Classic. The Challenge Cup is a local Group 3; the KRA Cup is a local Group 2.

“If you look at their stakes schedule, it's very impressive,” said Irwin.

The 2015 Korean racing calendar features no fewer than 40 stakes races worth, at a minimum, around $125,000. The country's richest races are the roughly $600,000 President's Cup, a local Group 1 for horses aged three and up going 2000 meters over Seoul's sand track Oct. 18; and the about $600,000 Grand Prix to be held Dec. 13.

Asked if Korea was using another other country's industry as a blueprint for their own, Irwin said he didn't think so. “I think most people would say that the Koreans don't want to copy anyone else,” he said. “They want to go out, do it themselves, learn from their mistakes, and then try to better other countries.”

Irwin said bringing in foreign owners is part of that process. “I think they're hoping that guys like me come in and get some horses with some Korean heritage, and showcase them in other places,” he said. “That's the goal. Whether it's possible and whether it will work, that remains to be seen.”