For all the attention Little Paradise is beginning to attract, Jimmy Ting’s connection with the four-year-old remains disarmingly simple.
“He’s very quiet – just like a pet,” Ting said. “Very quiet. Beautiful.”
In a stable not accustomed to Classic Series pressure, Little Paradise stands out as much for his unflappable temperament as his results. Ting describes a horse who understands himself – and his job – unusually well for his experience.
“He’s very clever,” Ting said. “In the morning he doesn’t use too much energy. He knows when it’s a trial or a race. When you want to sit behind, he will do that – and when you ask him for effort, he gives you all he has got.”
That awareness has shaped the way Ting has handled his stable star. Little Paradise has progressed steadily through the grades, but never by accident. From early on, Ting has trained him with the bigger picture in mind, mindful not just of winning races but of what might be required if the road ever led to the BMW Hong Kong Derby.
“After this race I might give him some longer work, because next start is 1600. He needs to learn to take a longer distance,” Ting said, adding that the horse is helping him reach that long term goal. “He’s very careful the way he uses his body,” the trainer said.
Ting has never had a runner in any leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, and Sunday’s Class 2 represents both a test and a confirmation of a plan long in the making.
“I hope he’s still improving,” Ting said. “I hope he can handle it.”
