The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) published its 2026 racing implementation plan on January 28, 2026, setting the official opening of Yeongcheon Racecourse and a regional rotating racing system in which horses based in the Busan-Gyeongnam region travel between Busan-Gyeongnam and Yeongcheon1. The plan took effect on January 1, 20261.
Under the system, racehorses stay resident in the Busan-Gyeongnam region while horses rotate between Busan-Gyeongnam and Yeongcheon, a structure the plan describes as a full-scale regional rotating racing system1. Yeongcheon is scheduled to operate three times in 2026: March 2 (Monday), August 17 (Monday) and October 5 (Monday)1.
"`26년 영천경마장 개장에 따라, 경주마 자원은 부경에 상주 체류하며 부경↔영천 간 경주마가 순회하는 권역형 순회경마체계 본격 시행"
The plan also lists other changes for the year. A unified Thoroughbred jockey system is to run as a pilot in 2026 and be implemented in 20271. The KRA Cup Sprint is to be run jointly by Seoul and Busan-Gyeongnam and converted to an open race1. Field sizes are capped at 12 horses for 1,000m races across both the Seoul and Yeongnam regions, while at Seoul 1,600m races are capped at 10 horses and 1,700m races at 121. The plan gives prize money figures for Group and Listed races, including 81,000 for a Group race and 100,000 for another, and 48,000 for a Listed race, without stating the currency unit in the quoted lines1. It also lists a Korea Cup (IG3) purse distribution of 1,600, 800, 320, 160, 96, 64, 48, 40, 32, 24 and 161.
It also lists a payment scale totaling 18 million won, split between owner (10 million won), trainer (5 million won) and jockey (3 million won)1.
What it means for players
Yeongcheon Racecourse becomes a third venue in the KRA's racing calendar alongside Seoul and Busan-Gyeongnam, but it will host only three race days in 2026, all on Mondays1. For people who bet on horse racing in South Korea, the rotating system means the horse population at Busan-Gyeongnam and Yeongcheon is shared rather than separate, so race cards at either venue may draw on the same pool of runners1. The plan does not state which betting channels, including official online horse racing betting accounts, will cover Yeongcheon meetings, and it does not give admission, ticketing or on-course betting details for the new track; those have not been reported in the plan1. The jockey system change is a pilot in 2026, so riding arrangements may differ from the current system before full implementation in 20271.
What happens next
The unified Thoroughbred jockey system moves from pilot operation in 2026 to implementation in 20271. The KRA Cup Sprint is to be run jointly by Seoul and Busan-Gyeongnam as an open race1.
Sources1 sources
- raceplan2026_20260128.pdf, race.kra.co.kr
