When John Size created more history at Happy Valley on Wednesday night by becoming only the second trainer to prepare 1,400 winners in Hong Kong, the least surprising aspect of the occasion was how quickly John disappeared from the limelight.
No sooner had Seizing The Moment left the winners’ enclosure than John was back to business, heading off to the stabling area for the following race. Even after joining John Moore in an elite band of trainers to post 1,400 winners, John’s focus was firmly on the future.
Now into his 20th season, John continues to operate at the peak of his powers and his record is truly amazing. As a measure of just how good John is, he managed to win the 2001/2002 championship in his first season in Hong Kong, beating the legendary Ivan Allan by two wins – 58-56 – and Tony Cruz, who currently has 1,399 career wins as a trainer, was third.
Since then, a further 10 championships have followed, along with four second placings and two third placings. Only twice, has John failed to finish on the podium and, currently placed second with 70 wins behind Frankie Lor (71), he is again bidding for the championship.
He has been a force in elite races and, based on performances over three seasons from 2017/18 to 2019/20 alone, John led the statistics in the top races with 7.3 wins a season and his strike rate in Class 2 and above is unmatched.
As staggering as John’s numbers are – he averages 70 winners a season with a winning strike rate of 14% across a phenomenal career – the other towering aspect of his contribution to Hong Kong racing is the way he has influenced training here.
Frankie is one of John’s proteges and, given his grounding, Frankie’s success is hardly surprising and his battle with John for the 2021/22 championship will continue to be a highlight of this season. Benno Yung also served as John’s assistant trainer before becoming a successful trainer in his own right.
With 18 meetings left this season, there is plenty of time for more milestones to be reached with Tony Cruz (1,399), Dennis Yip (793), Francis Lui (790), Tony Millard (699), Me Tsui (589), Dylan Mo (99) and Jerry Chau (92) all close to landmarks.
Pleasingly, the stabilisation of the fifth wave means that for the first time since 1 January members of the public who have made advance bookings will be able to return to the races from 22 May for the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) at Sha Tin.
Our customers have been sorely missed during the closed-door mode of racing and we thank them for their continued understanding in the circumstances.
The Alnwick Handicap is a Class 2 mile carded as Sunday’s third race with a select field of seven runners, including two last-start winners that are up in grade. The race will be run over a rain-affected course and will be run at a good to slow pace as a sit and sprint.
Running Glory is a small horse, weighing in at 985 pounds, but packs a big closing punch. He has won four of his last five races and now steps up to Class 2 with Alexis Badel filling in for the suspended Joao Moreira. He has won over 1400, 1600 and 1800 metres during this purple patch. He is a place chance under his up-in-grade light weight.
C P Brave will have his blinkers removed but should still be relatively close to the pace under Ruan Maia. He comes off a sharp try in the class and distance and did run well over rain-affected going in England before coming to Hong Kong. He is a win and place chance.
Charity Grace, with Matthew Chadwick, has performed well on a yielding track and is a place chance, while Beauty Fit, for Zac Purton, impressed winning his maiden on a heavy track and is an outside chance.
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