Tarnished idol Thewizardofoz scrubbed up all right again after the Chinese New Year Cup win that has probably set him on a Group One path again, even if it isn’t the path originally expected.
At the start of the season, the John Size-trained four-year-old looked a prime Derby candidate but his keenness in running and defeat in the Classic Mile put a hole in that idea.
WATCH: Highlights of the Chinese New Year Cup, won by Thewizardofoz
The Chinese New Year Cup was a pivotal moment in Thewizardofoz’s career as he sought to bounce back from that defeat and redeem himself, but he never gave his backers too much to worry about dropping back to 1,400m and a sprint career looks to be calling.
“I have to see how he has come out of this race but at this moment I’d say he’ll be in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup next run,” said Size. “His rating won’t give him too many options after this and I don’t think, right at the moment, that we want to try him again over a mile. But I do need to see how the horse is after this run.
“It was a bit of a gamble to get him back on track by running again two and a half weeks after the Classic Mile today, so to ask him to run again on the 28th in the Group One will very much depend on the horse himself.”
Joao Moreira camped Thewizardofoz just behind the even speed set by Secret Sham, pounced at the 200m and the only moment of concern came when the gelding found the front and started to roll in towards the fence.
“I was able to straighten him up so he didn’t bump anyone and then he showed his class by running away from them,” said Moreira. “I like this horse a lot. He’s a nice horse now and I think he will be even nicer with another year of maturity. I have a lot of faith in him and in whatever John decides to do with him next.”
He comfortably left behind the 2013 Chinese New Year Cup winner, Super Lifeline, who held on to second just ahead of Charles The Great.
Thewizardofoz gave Size his fifth win in the Lunar New Year feature in 15 years of training here, with his previous winners including Glorious Days, who went on to Hong Kong Mile success.
Size said some people might have become concerned about short-priced defeats for ‘Thewizard’ this season but he was not one of them, and he would not rule out the possibility of dropping the horse back further in trip if necessary.
Many years ago, Size dropped Grand Delight right back in trip when he wasn’t quite seeing out 1,600m races at the top level and turned him into Hong Kong’s champion sprinter at the time, winning three Group Ones from 1,000m to 1,200m.
The feature win sealed a winning double for Size, who had also combined with Moreira to win with G-One Bobo earlier – one of four wins for the Brazilian champion – and the Australian handler has crept away to a six-win lead in the trainers’ race over Danny Shum Chap-shing.
“I’m not worried about Thewizardofoz. We tried him at the longer trip, he didn’t cope with it but you saw today what he could do,” Size said. “And it doesn’t bother me if all the options he has for the rest of the season are sprints, because he’s a pretty good sprinter.
"G-One Bo Bo has beaten them quite quickly both Class Four wins lately, so maybe he’ll cope with the next grade up but I’m hoping we don’t have to test that next run and he stays in this grade,” Size said.
