Baby is maturing into a top sprinter, says Yip

A more muscular and confident Go Baby Go proved he could be a major factor in the big upcoming sprint races after making light work of a tricky draw against a quality field in yesterday's Group Three Sha Tin Sprint Trophy.

Go Baby Go has matured significantly in the off-season just gone, transforming from a somewhat diminutive gelding with a nervous disposition, into a six-year-old striking enough to be judged best turned out from the pre-race parade ring yesterday.

Both trainer Dennis Yip Chor-hong and jockey Tye Angland pointed to the sprinter's physical development as a major factor in their commonly held belief that Go Baby Go can not only shed any "straight-track wonder" tags, but also make the leap into the top bracket this term.

"He has fully matured this season - you can see that he is very muscular and as a result he is much more quiet and relaxed," Yip said, before Angland added: "He has definitely come back a bigger, stronger horse this time in and I think he is going to take the next step."

That next step is likely to begin with the Group Two Jockey Club Sprint in around seven weeks, a testing ground for a run in the Hong Kong International Sprint on December 8.

Go Baby Go drew barrier one, and although horses are clearly favoured drawing wide on the straight course, Angland said the gate "looked worse on paper" given the relatively small field of nine.

Angland positioned Go Baby Go outside of lightly weighted second favourite California Bounty, dropping him at the 200m, as the winner pulled away to score by a comfortable ¾ lengths from John Moore-trained pair Frederick Engels and Charles The Great. "I was happy with them," Moore said. "Frederick Engels will be a lot better over 1,200m and Charles The Great looks like he has taken a step forward."

Top weight and heavily supported 2.1 favourite Eagle Regiment was beaten 2¼ lengths into fifth, finishing out of a place up the straight for the first time in his career, a post-race scope revealing substantial blood in his trachea.

"I didn't need to see the results of the inspection - I already knew something was wrong - he wasn't himself," Eagle Regiment's jockey Olivier Doleuze said. "I had him exactly where I wanted him and when he sees the line in that situation he usually explodes."

All seven of Go Baby Go's career wins have been up the Sha Tin straight, his best effort from five runs on the circle a short-head second to Rich Tapestry in a Group Two in April.

And there were excuses when he was pestered in front in the Chief Executive's Cup on the first day of the season, before fading for fourth.

"He will handle 1,200m," Yip said. "Don't forget that he drew wide last start as well. I think if he can get some cover it will be easier for him."

"I thought his first up run over 1,200m was pretty good actually," Angland said. "The track wasn't playing well to the inside and we were driven mad in front. In saying that, he is obviously very good over 1,000m and will be hard to beat in the Centenary Sprint Cup later in the season."