John Size’s late surge in the trainers’ championship has arrived right on time. The 13-time champion and defending title holder turned up at the races in seventh and left in fifth after a treble took him to 24 winners.
Each winner hinted at more to come. Comeback horse Super Express will remain in Class 3 after his three-quarter length win in the last, while earlier winners Crossborderdude and debutante winner Master Lucky are both young horses with upside.
Size is known for giving his horses a deep grounding in trials and Master Lucky went to the races after six.
“He hadn’t done much wrong, I brought him to the races because another trial wasn’t going to teach him anything,” Size said. “I took him to the races so he could continue with his improvement and in the races under raceday conditions and jockeys riding him out, he found a bit more.”
Of Size’s three winners, Crossborderdude showed the resilience that can take a three-year-old a long way.
Coming back to 1200m after two starts up in trip, Crossborderpegasus was quick from the gates for Zac Purton but then showed sustained speed and tenacity.
He crossed from gate 10 to sit second, travelled strongly and found himself in front a long way from home, then had to win a dogfight when Chill Partners came to his shoulder.
“He did a bit of work to get the position - but he was tough because he was up on the pace and had some challenges,” Size said. “It was only Class 4, but he will learn from being in the finish off races like that.”
Vincent Ho Chak-yiu had Little Paradise backers sweating when he landed behind a wall of horses in the Hong Kong Classic Mile, but he kept his composure, found the gap and didn’t lose the momentum needed to unleash the race-winning sprint.
The moment carried extra weight given Ho’s comeback from serious injury last season. He told media his time on the sidelines has made him more grateful for wins like this, and the fans look just as grateful to have him back delivering feature-race moments.
