Raon Forest Gets Up in KNN Cup

Park Jong-kon-trained 5YO mare bounces back in G3 race after missing the start badly

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BUSAN - Raon Forest found herself in a world of trouble when badly veering out after the gates opened, but the Park Jong-kon-trained mare eventually caught up and cut through the entire field to win the 500 million won (S$466,000) Group 3 KNN Cup (1,600m) at Busan racecourse on June 1.

The five-year-old grey was stepping out in the third and final leg of the Queens' Tour (Spring/Summer) series, where she faced 12 rivals, including Gladius and Jeulgeounyeojeong.

Gladius won the first leg, the Listed Dong-A Ilbo Trophy (1,800m) at Seoul racecourse on March 23, while Jeulgeounyeojeong was the winner of the second leg, the Group 2 Ttukseom Cup (1,400m) in Seoul on April 27.

When the gates opened, Raon Forest's racing antics looked to have ruined her chances of winning, and many would have forgotten about the daughter of Hansen as speedster East Jump (Kim Taehun) set the early pace with Jeulgeounyeojeong (Seo Seung-un) in close attendance.

Into the home straight, it was Gladius (Kim Yong-geun) who took the lead, but the field was fanned across the track with the win still up for grabs at the furlong pole.

Jeulgeounyeojeong never really looked the winner. But Gladius did, and so did 2024 KNN Cup winner Wonderful Slew (Moon Se-young) as she launched her bid to defend her title from out wide. Yet, neither would finish in the top two.