Fifth win for Ho's unbeaten galloper has trainer thinking of Hong Kong Sprint
Unbeaten sprinter Grand Supreme has given connections plenty to think about after his fifth win last night at Happy Valley but champion jockey Douglas Whyte is hoping they err on the side of caution.
Trainer Peter Ho Leung had harboured a quiet hope that he could get Grand Supreme into the Hong Kong Sprint next month via the International Sprint Trial at Sha Tin on November 19 and the four-year-old added some weight to that idea when he broke into Class One last night with a sterling win.
'This was his toughest race tonight - not the fact that he was going up to the distance of 1,200 metres for the first time but the 1,200m races here are a bit different to what he has had to deal with to date,' Ho said. 'They always charge into the first turn here and the field was stronger but Grand Supreme jumped well, got a position and came back under Douglas beautifully.
'He's just a perfect horse. He's got so much quality and a fighting heart with it.'
Whyte's move forward to sit outside Adaikali in the run to the home turn proved a winning move as the warm favourite held out the late finish of Sanziro to win by a neck and put himself at least into discussion about the big races coming up.
'I want to talk with Douglas about our next options, either the Sprint Trial or a Class Two on the same day at Sha Tin, but the owner is a lovely lady and isn't putting any pressure on me at all to run the horse in the international race,' Ho said. 'In fact, she's the opposite. She told me don't put too much pressure on the horse to do it and don't put too much pressure on myself to try to make him.'
