Dazzling Fit returns at Happy Valley on Wednesday as David Eustace looks for the five-year-old to make good on the promise he showed before last season stalled.
He had looked one of the brighter young horses in the stable after winning twice from five starts as a three-year-old, then found life harder in his four-year-old season. He placed fifth in the Classic Cup, the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, before finishing 10th in the Hong Kong Derby.
“Basically, he peaked in the Classic Cup. He put in a good performance, he wasn’t beaten far, had the right horses around him, and then he just raced flat and probably didn’t stay in the Derby,” Eustace told The Standard.
“I don’t think you’ll see him much beyond 1800, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s sort of largely a miler throughout the year.”
Eustace decided not to bring Dazzling Fit back after the Derby and instead gave him a proper break, which he believes has done the five-year-old a world of good.
“He appears to have come back well. I think both trials have been pleasing and he’s definitely strengthened up from four to five physically.
“I’ve always felt the Valley is a track that he could be effective at, as well as Sha Tin. He raced solely there as a four-year-old, but first time at the Valley is always a challenge, so he’ll come on for the experience, and fitness-wise too. But I'm looking forward to seeing how he handles it.”
Zac Purton takes the race-day ride for only the second time and Dazzling Fit could hardly have drawn better in barrier one for the Class 3 over 1,650 meters. Purton also rode him in his latest trial and came away satisfied he was ready to go.
“Zac was pleased with his trial. We both thought he was ready to go to the races and it’s a race we’ve had in mind for a little while.”
All those factors are useful pieces of the puzzle, but they are not really what Eustace needs – or wants – answered: he believes Dazzling Fit was still racing like an unfinished product last season despite his obvious ability.
“He was still showing quite a lot of inexperience in his races, I thought, and wasn’t able to really put it all together. So hopefully he’s a more rounded and complete racehorse this season as a five-year-old.
“I guess the main thing he needs to do is sort of knuckle down and show that he’s a professional, talented racehorse.
“The ability is there to be the horse to challenge in the better races, or certainly sort of Class 2. We’ve seen glimpses of that, but I’d probably like to see a bit more consistency.”
Happy Valley did plenty of the heavy lifting for Eustace last season. He trained 22 of his 38 winners at the city circuit, including a treble at the final meeting, and the 1,650-meter course was particularly productive.
Before the finale, Eustace had trained 15 winners from 106 runners over the extended mile at a strike rate of 14.2 per cent, and Fashion Legend added another over the distance on the final night.
Those numbers formed part of a season that took time to get moving. Eustace managed only one winner from his first 66 runners before seven wins in November changed the direction of the campaign. He eventually finished on 38 victories and HK$65.7 million in prize money, two more wins than his debut season and around HK$16.5 million more in earnings.
