Myung Kwon Cho, owner-breeder, dies at 72

Myung Kwon Cho, an owner and breeder who won Grade 1 races at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park earlier this century, died April 9 after a lengthy illness, his son Raxon told Santa Anita publicity.

Cho was 72. He had been in hospice care since February.

Born in North Korea, Cho was raised in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the United States in 1978. He operated a clothing export business and became involved in racing in the 1980s.

By the mid-1990s, Cho was heavily invested in racing. He owned and trained Critical Factor, who finished third in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Woodbine, and Nationalore, who finished third in the 1997 BC Juvenile at Hollywood Park and was later ninth in the Kentucky Derby.

The Cho-owned Video Ranger finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby in 1990 when trained by Ian Jory.

Cho bred, owned, and trained Street Hero, who won the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita in 2008 and was later third in the BC Juvenile. More recently, Cho’s Love Theway Youare won the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap in 2012 at Hollywood Park.

Cho had his last runner at Santa Anita in September 2014. Services were held Thursday in Burbank, Calif.