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Fifth stakes winner for late Waikato Stud sire Sacred Falls
The late Waikato Stud sire Sacred Falls (O’Reilly) was represented by his fifth stakes winner when the John Size-trained Courier Wonder (3 g ex Fabulist by Savabeel) remained undefeated taking out Sunday’s Sha Tin Vase (Gr 3, 1200m).
Having his first start in stakes company, as the least experienced runner in the race, the three-year-old juvenile capped his perfect debut season with a classy victory against a collection of the circuit’s best sprinters, including Computer Patch (Exceed And Excel) and Sky Field (Deep Field), second and third in last month’s Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Gr 1, 1200m).
Under championship-leading jockey Joao Moreira, the Sacred Falls gelding broke away cleanly from gate six to settle in the box seat, before taking over at the 200 metre mark and pulled clear to score a three quarter length victory over the fast-closing Stronger (Not A Single Doubt) and Sky Field, respectively.
“In the straight, I pulled him out and he dashed home as he always does – good horses like him give jockeys an amazing feeling,” Moreira said.
Today’s win was Moreira’s second in the race after his triumph aboard Not Listenin’tome (Dylan Thomas) in 2015 for John Moore, while trainer John Size snared his first.
“I’m very excited (for next season), he’s the type of horse that everyone dreams to have,” Moreira said.
“We had a great opportunity to learn a bit more about him today, the pace was really genuine so he had a chance to settle behind others.
“When we first started turning he got a bit lost and wanted to run out today, shying away from the other horses, but as we progressed he started to relax, which is fantastic,” Moreira added.
Size will now plot a path towards the Hong Kong Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) in December for Courier Wonder.
“That’s where we’re heading (Hong Kong Sprint),” he said.
“There are no races I would want to run him now and I think that he probably showed that he was looking for a break anyway – that was the feeling I got watching the race live.
“He’s got talent and we just have to manage it and try and keep him out of harm’s way and then turn him loose on a race track,” he added.
Bought for NZ$150,000 by John Foote Bloodstock at Book 1 of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka 2019 sale from the draft of Waikato Stud, Courier Wonder is one of five winners, from as many foals to race, out of Fabulist (Savabeel). The mare is also the dam of Listed winner Nowyousee (O’Reilly), Group 3 placed Just Fabulous (O’Reilly) as well as Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) runner-up Icebath who is also by Sacred Falls.
The youngster capped an early treble for Size who succeeded with debutant winners Toronado Phantom (Toronado) and Drops Of God (Mossman), the former taking the Pakistan Star Plate (1200m) for Griffins under Chad Schofield while the latter prevailed in the Class 4 Makarpura Star Handicap (1200m) under Moreira who would later seal a treble.
“I think there’s a lot of development in him, I’m pretty hopeful about his future – he’s going to win some races,” Size said of Toronado Phantom.
Size maintained his three-win lead at the top of the Hong Kong trainers’ championship with a treble as he bids for a 12th title, while nearest rival Caspar Fownes grabbed three of his own and moved to 62 wins in outright second place.
“He looks like the sprinter that he’s supposed to be, he’s well-behaved and even on his first day at the races he seems to do everything right,” Size said of Drops Of God.