Clean One mops ‘em up in Busan Mayor’s Cup win

BUSAN – Clean One emphatically confirmed his status as the best horse in Korea as he dominated the 700 million won (S$587,000) Grade 2 Busan Mayor’s Cup (1,800m) on May 24.

The US-bred left his rivals trailing far behind him in the Busan sand in the final leg of the Stayer Series, giving a few indications just what might happen on the first Sunday in September.

Having rounded out his three-year-old season by winning the Grade 2 Grand Prix Stakes (2,300m) by the biggest margin in three decades, Clean One kicked off 2026 with a dismissive score in the Grade 3 Herald Business (2,000m), the first leg of the Stayer Series at Seoul in March.

With bigger targets and workload management in mind, he was kept out of April’s Grade 3 YTN Cup (2,000m). That was won by Success Baekpa, and instead, Clean One came straight to the Busan Mayor’s Cup over the Korea Cup distance of 1,800m.

Clean One was sent off as the $8 favourite. That price seemed generous as under Seo Seung-un, Clean One cruised into the lead setting a pace that, as in the Grand Prix and Herald Business, his rivals were soon uncomfortable with.

Meanwhile, Seo sat motionless before asking for a brief effort in the home straight that saw the pair kick on and win by six lengths from Global Hit (Park Jae-i) to bring Clean One’s win tally to seven.

A month ago, when a resurgent Global Hit ran second to Success Baekpa in the YTN, many observers opined that a prime Global Hit would have easily gone past the winner. Nobody even entertained any thought that he would have gone past Clean One.

Even in running second, Global Hit ran the quickest time he ever has for the 1,800m. The figures suggested that this may even have been the old Global Hit.

Ever the enigma, Gangpungma (Jo Jae-ro), on a day when many had written him off, ran a fine third, with Success Baekpa (Jin Kyum) in fourth. Yeonggwanguifirst (Song Kyeong-yun) was fifth with Speed Young (Jo In-kwon) an uncharacteristic sixth.

“From about the fourth corner, I was confident he would win,” said trainer Moon Hyeon-cheol, very unconvincingly to KRBC, given it was obvious to all other observers that from the first corner, Clean One would win.

“I am so proud of Clean One,” he said, with a little more conviction. “It’s the greatest success for our stable so far and so good to do it in front of so many fans who have turned up at Busan.”

Moon also paid tribute to runner-up Global Hit, a horse he revealed he worked with during a brief spell as assistant to Bang Dong-suk, just before striking out on his own.

“I helped prepare Global Hit a couple of times and was really happy to see him run well today. I want to help Clean One achieve as much as Global Hit,” he said.

He said that Clean One remained on course towards his two main targets.

“Nothing has changed from before – we will next go to the KRA Cup Classic and then to the Korea Cup,” he said. “The only factor we consider is the horse’s health.”

Seo was not quite as reticent as his trainer.

“The plan was to lead and while I had a couple of ideas what to do if we were unable to do that, we got to the front quite easily and really, 100 metres into the race, I was pretty sure we would win,” he said.

“I only care about the chemistry between me and the horse. My job is to help him flow freely and not get in his way.

“To be honest, this race was a race he should win – a really light test for him. Don’t give us any plaudits for today; the race I am focused on is the Korea Cup.”

Further down the field, Tuhonui Banseok (Chae Sang-hyun) signed off from a long career that saw him win this race twice in 2023 and 2024 in 12th place. The eight-year-old will return to the races safe and sound one last time for his well-earned retirement ceremony on May 31.

Clean One is by Bernardini and was purchased by K.O.I.D. out of the Keeneland 2023 Yearling Sale for US$22,000 (S$28,000). In Korea, he is campaigned by the Healing Farm Union organisation.

The Grade 2 KRA Cup Classic (2,000m) is held at Seoul Racecourse on July 26 while the Grade 1 Korea Cup (1,800m) will be run on Sept 6.

Next week, the main race of the weekend is also at Busan as the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer concludes with the Group 3 KNN Cup (1,600m).

KOREA RACING AUTHORITY