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Alan Aitken

Trainer David Hall opened his account for the new season on Saturday at Sha Tin, and gets his chance to strike again quickly with Bodacious at Happy Valley tonight in the Hong Kong Country Club Challenge Cup (1,200m).

Bodacious (Terry Wong Chi-wai) has the better of the draws out of gate four. First-up he has shown himself in the past to be right at the peak of his powers.

He returned from an injury-enforced break in June to produce the best performance of his career, stalking the leaders over this course and distance before dispatching them with a lightning pounce at the top of the straight.

It was impressive stuff from a horse has registered all four wins from 16 starts  since joining the Hall stable in 2005.

Without much obvious strong pace this time, he should be able to secure a similar run right up on the speed.

His danger may well be Country Magic, a horse who won't ever make the annals of the all time greats but no doubt the race that connections want to win is tonight's event as the Tony Cruz-trained four-year-old is owned by the Hong Kong Country Club Racing Syndicate.

The syndicate has enjoyed real success in recent years with the top class sprinter Country Music and to a considerably lesser extent with Country Dragon.

Country Magic (Jacky Tong Chi-kit) probably has a lot more in common with Country Dragon  when it comes to sheer talent.

But the well bred four-year-old is still only lightly raced and it is reasonable to assume that he has not yet peaked.

A winner in Class Four last season at Sha Tin, Country Magic should get a better trip than he did from the outside gate last season in his only exposure to the Valley.

With the light weight, he will most likely find his way to the front early and will take running down getting 16 pounds from Bodacious.

After a barrier trial and some solid Cruz-style work since, Country Magic looks fit enough to make an impact.

John Size is one from one with Brilliant One (Douglas Whyte), so what additional success he can bring from the gelding is still an open question. While that win was over this course three months ago, it was on a seriously rain-affected track.



Bodacious primed to give  Magic a run for his money