After the almighty flop of King Mossman at the Happy Valley on Wednesday – even without the “horseblocks” it was never ever going to place, let alone win – mixed with the success of Young Turbo, trainer John Size must be expecting for things to get back on a more even keel on Saturday at Shatin’s National Day Meeting.
Size DOES matter and the astute and soft-spoken Aussie trainer certainly has some of the best of his current crop going around at this meeting.
We also hear that he has some brilliant new young guns waiting in the wings.
But, first things first …
Saturday sees the much-anticipated return of Entrapment which, despite a very long injury-plagued “hiatus”, will be back to, hopefully, notch up his eighth successive win.
The name of the horse – Entrapment – is anther story altogether!
Can it beat the likes of Sacred Kingdom, Sweet Sanette and the revitalized Blaze King?
We think so – though it won’t be easy down the straight 1000 metres with Sweet Sanette and Blaze King drawn the favourable outside barriers.
In the National Day Cup, Size saddles up four horses – Flying Blue, Sight Winner, Sichuan Success and Brave Kid.
The key here is that in this race, the regular John Size-Douglas Whyte combination has gone their separate ways.
Whyte has already made it known that this was an extremely tough decision for him to make. Maybe.
But if we were The Durban Demon we’d do exactly what he has done: Hang on to the ride on the Tony Millard-trained Ambitious Dragon for all its worth.
He would not want Maxime Guyon – the horse’s one-time regular rider – coming back to Hong Kong later this season and taking the ride way.
Has Whyte made the right decision?
From a long-term view, perhaps.
Will Ambitious Dragon, drawn Barrier 10 over 1400 metres, be beaten by one of Size’s horses?
Why not – especially in the form of Flying Blue with Zac Purton up – but let’s not forget horses like John Moore’s Xtension and that one right at the bottom of the weights – Let Me Handle It with Mark Du Plessis up for Caspar Fownes.
This should turn out to be a fabulous race.
But surely the omen bet for the day, must be when John Size saddles National Treasure in Race 6?
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