Cover image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Stellar Express adds to Zoustar’s impressive record
John Size has begun his usual mid-season march up the Trainer’s Premiership ladder with a double on Sunday. The duo was led by his sixth G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy winner Stellar Express (Fr) (Zoustar) who won by three lengths from Colourful King (Blue Point {Ire}) and Invincible Sage (Thronum). “He seemed to leave nothing else to chance, he jumped cleanly and got to the front and just made one act of it,” Size told hkjc.com.
“He’s done that before, when he gets some favours on this track, down the outside, he seems to keep running – he certainly enjoys it. The light weight is going to help, but he looks like a track specialist over the course and distance.”
Winner of three of his seven starts in France when named Dariym, Stellar Express became stakes winner number 75 for Zoustar. The 5-year-old gelding has won four more races in Hong Kong to take his record to seven wins from 35 starts with earnings over HK$11.1 million (AU$2.1 million).
“Obviously they don’t programme a race too often for him, but he has to race to remain in condition so I’ll just take him wherever his rating allows him to be. We’ve eventually got going a little bit and we’re making some sort of respectable presence, so I just hope I can keep going.”
John Size | Image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Stellar Express is out of Darinja (Fr) (Shamardal {USA}), a winner over 1200 metres. This is the family of Champion 3YO Filly in Europe in 2007 and triple Group 1 winner Darjina (Fr) (Zamindar {USA}) and New Zealand-based sire Almanzor (Fr).
Size previously won this race with in 2003 with Grand Delight (Hurricane Sky), in 2017 with Amazing Kids (NZ) (Falkirk {NZ}), in 2018 with Premiere (NZ) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}), in 2023 with Sight Success (Magnus) and last year with Howdeepisyourlove (Deep Field).
Size’s other winner for the night was Sight Hermoso (Headwater). “We’ll see what the programme is and how it is dated before we make plans. It’s hard to do well early in your preparation here, so it’s a good sign.”
Size has 16 wins for the season, 12 behind the leader Mark Newnham.
Newnham’s smart debutant winner
Mark Newnham now has 28 wins for the season after he unveiled smart debutant 3-year-old gelding Supreme Sea (Sebring Sun). He was previously trained in Australia by Steve Hodge where he won a trial as a late 2-year-old. “When Steve came over for the Derby, he mentioned that he had a horse at home that was trialling well and up for sale,” Newnham told scmp.com.
Mark Newnham | Image courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
“After he trialled, I rang him and said ‘I’ll have him’, so he put me in touch with the owner, who was also the breeder, and we worked out a deal. So far, it’s looking good. It’s a good starting point for him – he was the youngest horse in the field, only a 3-year-old, but he’s a big horse. I think he’ll continue to improve.
“I’ll probably give him a fairly light season because he’s a big, tall horse that needs to fill out a little bit. I think he’ll be effective on the turf as well, so I think we’ll just carefully plan him through the rest of this season with a good 4-year-old year ahead.”
Supreme Sea is the third foal and third winner for Tough Baby (Helmet), and his two older siblings are also by Sebring Sun. Tough Baby is a daughter of four-time winner Show Bling (Flying Spur) who won once at Moonee Valley, while this is the family of G2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Strasbourg (I Am Invincible).
Newnham leads the Trainer’s Premiership by one win from Caspar Fownes (27), Danny Shum (25) and David Hayes (24) after 34 meetings.
Purton has two great options for Classic Mile
Jockey Zac Purton will have to choose between Mark Newnham-trained Invincible Ibis (Hellbent) and Sunday’s strong winner Pierre Ng-trained Sagacious Life (Brz) (Put It Back {USA}) for the upcoming Listed Classic Mile. The first leg of the 4-year-old series will run on February 1. “Everyone’s chasing (Purton). He told me he’s only down to two. At least I’ve got a 50 per cent chance,” Ng told scmp.com.
Pierre Ng | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“Straight to the Classic Mile – that’s our plan. He’s got the rating already. We tried to put as light a pressure on him as possible and he handled it brilliantly. We’ve got pressure off our back and look forward to the next one.”
Sagacious Life, who raced as Navio Fantasma in Brazil, won four of his six starts in Brazil including the G1 Grand Premio Derby Paulista. He has now won two of his three starts in Hong Kong.
“He’s got very good form and you always trust the rating – the highest-rated horse does well in those kind of races. He still needs to be a little bit mature – when he’s parading he’s still looking around and a bit toey. If we get that out of him, he’ll be much nicer.
“From the first race in Hong Kong, I did think he would go further but now he’s won twice in mile races. I still think he goes further – definitely 1800 metres and 2000 metres will be his best trips.”
Sagacious Life is a half-brother to Listed winner Discreto Belo (Brz) (Signal Tap {USA}) from the family of Champion 2YO Colt in Brazil in 2007/08 Skypilot (Brz) (Put It Back {USA}).
