RED LION AND PURTON WIN THE CHINESE NEW YEAR CUP HANDICAP IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF JUST OVER 81 000

By Hong Kong Jockey Club (Leo Schlink) | Monday, February 12, 2024

Building vital mid-season momentum, John Size took training honours with a double at Sha Tin on Monday (12 February) when Red Lion clinched the HK$3.72 million Class 1 Chinese New Year Cup Handicap (1400m) in front of a crowd of 81,049.

Boosting his tally to 29 wins, Size has moved steadily into fourth place in the Hong Kong trainers’ championship behind Pierre Ng (47), Francis Lui (32) and Ricky Yiu (30) after Howdeepisyourlove followed Red Lion’s gritty success in the afternoon’s feature.

Enhancing his record to five wins and four minor placings from 18 starts with prize money of more than HK$12 million, Red Lion earned the praise of 12-time champion trainer Size after Zac Purton tracked leaders Duke Wai and Super Wealthy into the straight before angling into the clear before taking the lead.

Challenged fiercely by Mugen at the 150m, Red Lion rallied bravely to win by a neck with a fading Duke Wai eight and a quarter lengths further back third with an overall winning time of 1m 21.42s.

“He’s (Red Lion) been a good horse. He won four races last season and he’s done a fantastic job to come back on a reasonably high mark (102) and win another race,” Size said of the Belardo five-year-old, who won twice in Ireland when known as Fiach McHugh when trained by Andrew Slattery.

“He fought like a lion. We’ll see what happens to his rating and try place him in another one he can go close in.”

Purton, who leads the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship with 65 wins from Karis Teetan (44), said: “He (Red Lion) just had the right run. There were some horses that were well out of form and not well placed in that race. It was really a race in two. I had to carry the weight (125lb) compared to the up and coming, nice young progressive horse (Mugen, 115lb).

“It was a good battle – they both had their chance to win. I thought at the 150m, he had me when he was breathing down on me like that but, to my horse’s credit, maybe being a little older, more seasoned, a bit tougher, that was probably the telling factor in the end.”

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