Wonderful Slew upset the odds and Triple Tiara winner Jeulgeounyeojeong to win the Gyeongnam Governor’s Cup (2000M KOR-G3), the second leg of the Queens’ Tour Fall & Winter, in emphatic fashion for Italian trainer Luigi Riccardi at Busan Racecourse on Sunday afternoon.

Having won all three legs of the Triple Tiara with increasing authority and subsequently adding a class 1 victory over males and then the first leg of the current series in style, Jeulgeounyeojeong was sent off as a prohibitive 1.2 favourite. Wonderful Slew, who placed behind Jeulgeounyeojeong in both the Korean Oaks and Gyeonggi Governor's Cup, was the only other one sent off in single digits.

Cosmo and Chamjeoun Chingu set the early pace with Jeulgeounyeojeong setting up camp just behind them. Wonderful Slew  meanwhile sat in the middle of the thirteen-strong field before being ridden up in the back straight to sit behind the favourite.

At the top of the stretch, it seemed inevitable that Jeulgeounyeojeong  would go past Cosmo and Chamjoeun Chingu. She did, but not with the dismissive ease that might have been expected. And then looming up on her shoulder was Wonderful Slew. Under Antonio Da Silva, Wonderful Slew flew by before they even reached the furlong pole, immediately opening up daylight between herself and the rest. Jeulgeounyeojeong couldn't respond and Success Time also came past. The gap between 1st and 2nd was a full five-lengths on the line with the clock stopped just seven tenths of a second outside the track record.

For trainer Luigi Riccardi it was a second Korean Group success with the first also having come with a three-year-old filly at Busan when Choegang Black won the 2021 Korean Oaks. For jockey Da Silva, it was a fourth Group winner in Korea and completed the set of G1, G2 and G3 wins. He is also running away with the Seoul Jockey Premiership with 79 wins in the capital this year, more than thirty more than his nearest rival.

Wonderful Slew (Purge – Worldly Dude (by Volponi) was bred by her owner Chi Dae-sub's Nokwon Farm. Her dam Worldly Dude is a half-sister to American champion Game On Dude, being out of Worldly Pleasure, who was sold to Nokwon Farm in 2009, just before Game On Dude started to win back home. In her brief time at Nokwon, she had Worldly Dude. She was re-exported in 2011 but returned to Korea in 2019 and died in 2022.

The final leg of the Queens' Tour Fall & Winter is a new race on the calendar, the Breeders' Cup Queen, at Busan on December 10th. With only Listed status and a prize fund only just over half that of the Governor's Cup, it is uncertain if both Wonderful Slew and Jeulgeounyeojeong will line up again. One thing is for certain though; the filly and mare division is a lot more exciting than it was twenty-four hours ago.

Next weekend attention turns to the two-year-old ranks and the Seoul and Busan's respective Juvenile Series 2nd legs on Sunday afternoon. Lala K will go hunting for redemption in the NACF Chairman's Trophy at Seoul and may well get it with Nice Time, the impressive winner of the Munha Ilbo Trophy, not set to run. At Busan Baekduui Kkum heads the lineup in a likely small field for the Gimhae Mayor's Trophy. Both are over 1200M.