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Singapore runner Celavi ran last in the KRW 1 billion ($1.04 million) Group 3 Korea Sprint (1200m) held at the Seoul Racecourse on Sunday.
Organised by the Korea Racing Authority and boasting an International Group 3 status for the first time after a two-year hiatus, the fifth Korean Sprint was taken out by the Song Moon Gil-trained Korean horse Eoma Eoma. He was ridden by Korea's multiple-champion jockey Moon Se Young, who was a recent visiting jockey at Kranji in 2017.
After jumping from the widest gate 12, Eoma Eoma was bustled up by Moon to sit three-wide alongside UK runner Annaf (Kota Fujioka), just outside of leader and favourite, Japan's Raptus (Hideaki Miyuki).
The Michael Clements-trained Celavi (Louis-Philippe Beuzelin) jumped cleanly and showed plenty of toe early in the backstraight to be up front, until Raptus cut across to lead the field of 12.
Upon copping some kickback from the leader around the bend, the six-year-old daughter of Fighting Mare appeared to resent the fine sand and was soon out of contention by the 500m.
Raptus pulled away at the 300m but Eoma Eoma ($35) motored home in the last furlong to get up by half-a-length eventually. Also from Korea, Raon First (Park Tae Jong) finished another six lengths away to run third.
The winning time was 1min 11.2secs over the 1200m on the sand.
Among three other overseas raiders, Hong Kong contender Computer Patch (Matthew Chadwick) came in fifth, Annaf finished in seventh while Celavi was eased down to last.
Both Clements and Beuzelin thought the notoriously deep sand track was the main reason for her defeat, but though the run was not what they had hoped for, the pair have still learned a lot from Celavi's first overseas raid.
"Everything went to plan. We wanted to be in the first three, she was fast enough and got into a good position early," said Clements, the 2020 Singapore champion trainer who scored a double with Dixit Dominus and Pattaya on Saturday.
"Also, it did not rain today or yesterday despite a typhoon (Hinnamnor) approaching Korea. So, the weather was fine and good for us.
"But as soon as she ran into the stinging kickback halfway, she backed off and did not want to face it.
"Overall, it's a good learning experience for us. We now know what type of horses would suit the sand here.
"I'm pretty happy with her. She seems fine after the race. She will fly tomorrow night and reach Singapore at 3am on Tuesday morning. I'll be back tomorrow.
"She'll most probably have a break, and then we'll work out the (Group 3) Merlion Trophy (1200m) for her next February (4th)."
The 2021 Merlion Trophy winner last won in Singapore in a Kranji Stakes A race (1200m) five months ago with regular partner Beuzelin in the saddle.
The French jockey knows the mare inside out for having partnered her to six wins (out of eight) from 16 starts in Singapore. He decided to put her well-being first after she was badly affected by the kickback.
"I was really happy with the way she jumped and how she went. She got into stride quickly and was right up there," he said.
"I was happy with how the race panned out. She was in a nice rhythm and I never had to hold her back like I do in Singapore.
"But the one coming from the outside (Raptus) was very fast and as soon as she got some kickback at the 500m, she put up her head and didn't want to run anymore.
"I put her further back to try to reduce the kickback, but she was not motivated anymore.
"I just looked after her towards the end because it was quite intense going fast early, and hopefully, she comes out of the race okay."
Before Celavi , the only Singapore galloper to succeed in South Korea was Singaporean trainer Alwin Tan's El Padrino. He won the inaugural Group 3 Asia Challenge Cup (1400m) in 2014, which was then the forerunner to the Korea Sprint.
A few other attempts were made to repeat the success in the Korea Sprint, with El Padrino having another shot in 2015, Infantry (2016), Wimbledon (2017) and Maximus (2018), but they all failed.
Beuzelin was also offered a pick-up ride on the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained UK galloper Intellogent in the very next race, the Group 3 Korea Cup (1800m) after Irish jockey David Egan was tested positive for COVID-19 upon arriving in Seoul.
"I was lucky to pick up the ride because David Egan tested positive after taking the PCR test upon arrival," he said.
"I followed (Hong Kong runner) Kings Shield (Matthew Chadwick) throughout because I thought he was a good chance and can bring us into the race nicely.
"My horse was travelling quite well initially, but as soon as we got to the 800m, he got really tired.
"I think the thickness of the sand really took its toll on horses coming from abroad as they are not used to it.
"I gave both horses every chance but I think 90% of the overseas runners did not run to form because of the surface and they did not have enough time to adapt.
"All in all, it was still a great experience. I should be back in Singapore tomorrow evening. Hopefully, I get a few rides next week (Saturday)."
The seven-year-old son of Intello faded to run 12th behind Korea's Winner's Man ($28), who is trained by Choi Ki Hong and ridden by Seo Seung Un. Raon The Fighter (Moon) finished a length behind in second, while the favourite Japanese horse Sekifu (Fujioka) finished in third another length away. The winning time was 1min 53.1 secs on the 1800m sand track.
