Former Australian trainer John Size has posted a breakthrough win in one of Hong Kong’s biggest races.
The Size-trained Fay Fay claimed the Group One Hong Kong Derby after an ice-cool ride from Douglas Whyte.
New Zealand-bred Fay Fay prevailed in a battling drive to the wire by a neck from the John Moore-trained Same World with the fast-finishing Hong Kong Classic Mile victor Sweet Orange a head away third for trainer David Ferraris.
Size rated the Derby win among his finest in a Hong Kong career littered with feature races success and six champion trainer titles.
“It’s always nice to win a big race and in Hong Kong the big race to win is the Derby,” Size told the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
“Fay Fay won a race very early as a two-year-old which is probably a bit unusual for a Derby winner.
“Through injury he had more than 12 months off the track through his three-year-old year but that has probably stood him in good stead as I’ve been able to step him up at his leisure and he made steady progress to the point that he got into the Group One races.
“We’ll see how the horse is. (The Queen Elizabeth II Cup) is a pretty good idea but the horse might not agree with that.
“It depends on what sort of condition he’s in and how he takes this race.”
