The Grade 3 KNN Cup, a 1,600-meter race with a purse of 500 million won (S$426,000), will be held at Busan on May 31 as the finale of the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer series [1, 2]. Fantastic Value, the upset winner of the Grade 2 Ttukseom Cup on April 26 at over 70-1 odds, has drawn gate 10 for the KNN Cup [1, 2]. Before her recent victory, the mare won the Listed Luna Stakes and the Grade 2 Korean Oaks in 2025 but was narrowly defeated by Boryeonglightqueen in the Grade 3 Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup last June [1, 2].
Boryeonglightqueen, who won the Gyeonggi Governor’s Cup and the Grade 3 Jeju Governor’s Cup in 2025, will start from gate 12. Though she has not won since September 2025, she finished strong second in the Dong-A Ilbo Trophy in March and the Ttukseom Cup [1, 2]. Gladius, with gate 11, brings consistent form from Queens’ Tour races including a second place in the Breeders’ Cup Queen in November 2025, but placed sixth and fourth in earlier legs of this year's series [1, 2].
Raon Forest, the defending KNN Cup champion and highest-rated mare in the field, draws gate 13. Trained by Park Jong-kon, Raon Forest has 7 career wins and claimed the series' first leg, the Dong-A Ilbo Trophy [1, 2]. Oneuldo Smile, also traveling from Seoul and known for leading early before fading late, will be ridden by jockey Lee Yong-ho, who missed her first two Queens’ Tour starts but has ridden her to all six of her wins [1, 2].
Fantastic Value will seek to continue her late-season surge looking to add a Grade 3 KNN Cup title at Busan to her 2025 victories. The race starts on May 31, closing out the Queens’ Tour Spring/Summer series.