CHAMPION’S WAY & FLYING VICTORY

14th April 2019

Sunday at Sha Tin produced some miserable weather but there was abundant sunshine for Price Bloodstock clients, with the kind of exciting winning double that promises only more of the same to come.

The couple of successful horses – Flying Victory for trainer Frankie Lor and John Size-trained Champion’s Way – are not only putting a score on the board, they’re just three years old with seven starts between them for six victories, so the best is all ahead of them.

Champion’s Way keeps indicating he is going to make it in the big leagues next season when he turns four, after remaining unbeaten after five starts when he graduated to Class 2 despite the rain-affected track not looking to suit him.

“Only Group horses do what he did there,” said Size, who is famously cautious with three-year-olds going into Class 2. “There are no easy races when you get to this level and when Joao Moreira was pushing him to hold his position in mid-race, I didn’t think Champion’s Way was handling the track.”

Moreira was able to scout wider in the run down the straight and find some more suitable footing, though, and Champion’s Way wore down his rivals to win going away.

“He proved once again that he’s a really nice horse,” Moreira said. “Every time that he’s put into a new situation he’s just coped with it. That proves that he’s got a good heart in him. You wouldn’t think he was coming to win at the 800 metres, he was actually testing my fitness, but when we turned into the straight I could feel like I was going to get there. He was snaking around in the last 100 metres, he moved out and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. It was a tough ride but an easy win in the end.”

Much had been expected of Flying Victory at his debut in mid-March when he was only 10th behind Mr Croissant but the youngster got himself very upset pre-race when Lor’s staff attempted to place a tongue tie on him several times. They were unsuccessful and he raced without the tongue tie and was erratic in the race.

“He’d been a bit green at the trials before that too and he wanted to run around a bit today again,” said Zac Purton after Sunday’s breakthrough win at start number two. “He’s got some ability, though, as he showed by doing things wrong and still winning the race. He’s only going to get better with more experience.”