Karis Teetan was on site at Seoul Racecourse early this morning (Saturday, 10 September) to partner Hong Kong’s KOR G1 Korea Sprint (1200m, sand) contender Super Jockey in a light canter and reacquaint himself with the track he last rode at four years ago.
“I rode here in the KRA Jockey Invitation Races, just four races, but the surface was a bit different back then, it was looser,” said Teetan, as he picked up a handful of sand and watched it sift through his fingers.
Moments earlier, the Mauritian rider had dismounted from Super Jockey after guiding the Tony Millard-trained eight-year-old around a little more than a circuit of the main track at a steady tempo.
“The surface is pretty heavy, you can feel the difference to Sha Tin, but I think Super Jockey’s going well. He’s raced in Dubai, which is a similar track to this, he’s drawn well and he’s in good condition,” he said.
“He’s done his main work in Hong Kong and he’s fit and well. He’s here to just chill and adapt to the place, and get a good feel of the track. I’m glad I came today to sit on him and also just for me to get a good look at the track and get a good feel for it.”
Super Jockey, runner-up in the 2015 G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen (1200m, dirt), will break from gate two on Sunday and Teetan is happy with that.
“The draw is a big advantage,” he said. “We just need to get a clean jump and make sure we stay away from the kick-back – I’m sure he’s not going to like the kick-back, it gets in their face and in their nose. All the horses coming in will have to adapt to the sand.”
Teetan considers Ireland’s former US star Wild Dude (gate 10), twice a G1 winner, to be the biggest danger but has no intention of allowing his focus to stray from his own mount.
“The dangers, the horses we have to watch for, they’re drawn outside of us and they’ll maybe have to work a little bit harder than us to come around,” he said. “Wild Dude is a very good horse and Grape Brandy from Japan, he might like the track – it would be similar to those dirt tracks in Japan. I just need to keep my mind open to where the other horses are but to mainly focus on Super Jockey and ride my race.”
The Korea Sprint is one of two feature races at Seoul Racecourse’s groundbreaking international event, the other being the KOR G1 Korea Cup (1800m, sand).
