Stellar record for John Size in Bauhinia Sprint Trophy

HONG KONG – John Size’s dominance of the HK$4.2 million (S$692,700) Group 3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1,000m) continued at Sha Tin on Jan 4 when Stellar Express delivered the master trainer’s sixth victory in the feature.

Ridden by Andrea Atzeni, Stellar Express ($69) delivered 13-time Hong Kong champion trainer Size’s third win in the race since 2022 – after the previous triumphs of Grand Delight (2003), Amazing Kids (2017), Premiere (2018), Sight Success (2023) and Howdeepisyourlove (2025).

Size slotted a double to continue a familiar mid-season surge to have 16 wins for the campaign, after Stellar Express posted his fourth course and distance triumph with an explosive display of speed.

“He jumped cleanly and got to the front and just made one act of it,” said Size. “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.”

Jumping from gate 5, Stellar Express quickly cleared the rest of the field and crossed to the grandstand rail to lead.

Leading by four lengths at the 200m, the Zoustar six-year-old gelding comfortably defeated luckless Colourful King (Zac Purton) by three lengths in 55.85sec. Group 1 winner Invincible Sage (James Orman) finished third.

Said Atzeni: “He was carrying a light weight and it was all about the start. Once he pinged the gates and linked up with the horses on my outside, I knew I could get to the rail and once I did that, he travelled comfortably.

“I tried to hang onto him for as long as I could and when I let him down, he picked up good and when I looked up at the screen, I couldn’t believe how far clear I was. It was a good performance.”

Colourful King could not get clear until late, but he was steaming over the final 400m sectional.

Size also struck with Brenton Avdulla when Sight Hermoso ($24) took out the Class 4 Tsam Chuk Wan Handicap (1,000m).

Sagacious Life ($17) underlined his rich potential ahead of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series with a strong win in the Class 2 Leighton Handicap (1,600m) for Pierre Ng and Purton.

Jumping smartly from gate 3, the Brazilian import settled fourth behind fellow South American Winfield (Lyle Hewitson) before angling out approaching the home straight and sprinting sharply to defeat Soleil Fighter (Hugh Bowman) by ¾ length in 1:34.09sec. Fellow Four-Year-Old Classic Series aspirant Top Dragon (Atzeni) finished third.

The authority of the victory prompted Ng to outline plans to head directly to the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1,600m) on Feb 1 – the first of the three-race Four-Year-Old Classic Series, which also includes the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1,800m) on March 1 and Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) on March 22.

“Straight to the Classic Mile – that’s our plan,” Ng said. “He’s got the rating (90) 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.

“He’s got very good form and you always trust the rating – 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.”

Purton was also effusive in his praise of the Put It Back gelding.

“It was a really good effort for a young horse to carry a big weight in that case. Of course, he was in the right spot, had the right run, but he still had to get the job done,” he said.

Mark Newnham extended his lead at the top of the trainers’ championship when Supreme Sea ($20) debuted successfully in the second section of Class 4 Tai Mong Tsai Handicap (1,200m) under Hewitson.

A three-year-old by Sebring Sun, Supreme Sea was trained in Australia by Steve Hodge, who also prepared Newnham’s stable star My Wish before the subsequent winner of last season’s Hong Kong Classic Mile was exported to Hong Kong.

With 28 victories for the term, Newnham leads Caspar Fownes (27), Danny Shum (25) and David Hayes (24) after 34 meetings.

Hayes scored with Positive Smile ($28) under a facile ride by Keith Yeung in the Class 4 Po Leung Kuk Cup Handicap (1,400m) before Loyal Bright ($10) claimed a Private Purchase Bonus of HK$1.5 million for his victory in the Class 3 Pak Tam Chung Handicap (1,200m) for Frankie Lor and Derek Leung.

Maxime Guyon continued an impressive short-term stint with a double, scoring on Ricky Yiu’s The Concentration ($30) in the Class 5 Tai Lam Handicap (1,400m) and Francis Lui’s Gallant Epoch ($18) in the first section of the Class 4 Broadwood Handicap (1,400m). HKJC