High-impact trainer John Size doesn't know how much of a mark his Magical Warrior will make in Sunday's 2002 Hong Kong Derby, but at least he reckons he has luck on his side. 'My first year in Hong Kong has been a lucky one for me. And Magical Warrior has been lucky to even get into the field,' said Size, whose Sha Tin double on Saturday moved him into equal fourth place for his debut run at the championship. 'Last year, I think the lowest-rated horse to get into the Derby field was on a 96 rating. So we have done well for Magical Warrior to sneak in with 82.' The quietly spoken Australian has made an extraordinary impact in Hong Kong racing, maintaining a stunning 20 per cent winning strike-rate even after 143 runners, with better than 70 per cent of his runners finishing in the prize money. A Derby starter is one more tick in the plus column for his debut season and an upset victory would give Size his very first Derby anywhere, as it was only in his final months in Sydney that he was given a horse good enough to run in one. Sir Clive duly finished runner-up to the season's standout three-year-old, Universal Prince, in the AJC Australian Derby at Randwick. Magical Warrior also counts as Size's first foray into the private purchase field, finding the horse in New Zealand last year where his record was a handy 14 starts for three wins and six minor placings. 'He raced there as Lord Romar and raced pretty well, too,' Size said. 'He won a Derby Prelude, a Listed race at Ellerslie over 2,000 metres, then lined up in the Derby, so this won't be his first time. He didn't really flatter in that New Zealand Derby and finished well back.' Nevertheless, that Derby provided an indirect insight into Magical Warrior's staying talent. He had won the Prelude by more than three lengths and the runner-up went on to finish third in the Derby, less than two lengths from the winner. 'When I bought him I didn't do it thinking he would be a Derby horse here,' Size said. 'I wasn't thinking that far ahead. He just looked a horse with some ability, who might get better with more experience and maturity. To have him in a race like this is a bonus.' In Magical Warrior's five starts, he has not missed a prize money cheque but has been unable to crack it for the win which would have got him into Sunday's event with more to spare. 'Although he hasn't won, he has run well every time and I don't think that everything went his way a couple of times,' Size said. 'Certainly, nobody is disappointed with how he has gone here and we haven't seen the best of him yet. He has basically arrived off the plane from New Zealand. So it has been a bit of a rush to get him there on Sunday while he is still acclimatising. You wouldn't think you'd need to be rushing a horse to get him ready for a four-year-old Derby but that's just the way it has happened. I'm sure he is going to be better when he has had this campaign, had a spell and comes back next season.' Two years ago, South African trainer Tony Millard converted an impressive first season here into a Derby victory with Keen Winner, but Size is wary of raising any similar expectations for himself. 'I'd probably like to see them run along in the race a bit. A true test of stamina would be more in Magical Warrior's favour than a slowly run race, that's for sure,' he said. 'He has a good jockey in Eric Legrix and hopefully he can get into the prize money somewhere.'
