COURIER WONDER

25 Apr 2021

Price Bloodstock’s latest rising star, Courier Wonder kept his unbeaten record intact on Sunday’s Champions Day at Sha Tin and had many fans wondering whether he might be back for one of the major events on the same card next year.

Although the John Size-trained three-year-old was making the significant step out of Class 3 and into the tough arena of Class 2, he won untroubled under champion jockey Joao Moreira, who is not hiding his opinion of the horse after four starts for four wins.

“He really is a dream horse,” Moreira said. “I have been telling everybody. He is the kind of horse where I can’t remember the last sprinter to give me this feeling. He is the kind of horse that you just have to give them their chance.”

Moreira rode positively On the odds-on favourite but, for the first time in Courier Wonder’s life, he did not lead – it made no difference.

“It was the first time he went behind a horse and it tells me he is very intelligent, he can handle a different role and can come back,” the Brazilian explained. “He wasn’t very sure of it at the start, then when he found himself behind the other horses, he settled for me. There is plenty more to come from this bloke. He has done everything I was hoping and expecting him to do. I don’t know what’s next, but whatever John does, that is what the horse needs,”

Size is famously cautious with three-year-olds when they have risen quickly and reached Class 2, so he is non-committal at this point about whether Courier Wonder will race again this season, or how often if he does.

“He’s very promising but only young, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves at this stage, so the next move is something I’ll put a lot of thought into,” Size confirmed. “You can’t complain about anything he has done so far.”

The win took Courier Wonder’s race stakes earnings past $3.5 million in quick order but he also earned a High Achievement Bonus of an extra $1 million for his breakthrough victory in Class 2 in his first campaign.