BEAUTY APPLAUSE & SCORES OF FUN
17 Jan & 20 Jan 2021
It has been a good few days for two of Price Bloodstock’s current flagship gallopers in Hong Kong, with Beauty Applause finding a new way to express his talents and Scores Of Fun finally getting all the breaks at Happy Valley after a frustrating run.
Both horses are under the guidance of John Size, who showed off a fresh trick with Beauty Applause by switching him to the straight course at Sha Tin for the first time after 17 starts and it proved a winning move and his first victory away from the 1200m course.
“He is a very consistent, genuine horse but he has been finding it hard to win lately and we have tried something different by running him at a slightly longer distance without getting the result and I thought maybe we could try him over a shorter distance and see if that might work,” Size said. “He’s always had plenty of speed, so I wasn’t worried about him dropping back in distance and knew he’d be strong at the finish so it’s good to see him back in the winner’s circle with a new string to his bow.”
It was the fifth win for the five-year-old from his 18 runs, with another 9 top four finishes and he has rarely missed a prize money cheque, his stakes earnings now passing the $6 million mark.
On Wednesday night, it was the turn of another very consistent Price Bloodstock galloper, Scores Of Fun, to land the money.
A year younger than Beauty Applause, Scores Of Fun was having his tenth start and left his record at 3 wins and 5 seconds and more than $3.6 million in earnings.
His prior wins had come at the Sha Tin 1200m course and this was his first at Happy Valley over the same distance but Size said it was a well-deserved victory.
“He’d run second at five of his last sevens starts and most of the time has been unlucky – he’s had a few wide barriers and tough runs but still given his best effort – and his run last week was very unlucky when he was checked at the start of the race and got too far back,” Size said. “Tonight the luck all fell his way from a good draw and it’s always a good sign that, when things fall into place, the horse is good enough and genuine enough to take advantage of that. He’s getting close to Class 2 now, where life gets tough and the wins are really hard-earned but it’s hard to fault what he has done so far.”