Last season's Hong Kong Derby-winning trainer Caspar Fownes was reluctant to saddle lightly raced Let Me Handle It with too big a reputation at Sha Tin yesterday but keeping a lid on his enthusiasm for the four-year-old was the hard part.
The first leg of a double for Fownes, who also won the Skol Cup with Blue Sky 30 minutes later, Let Me Handle It (Brett Doyle) simply demolished a Class Three field over 1,600m to add his name to the list of big-race aspirants in the stable.
'I've been excited by this horse from the first day,' Fownes said. 'Really, his owner is one of my best friends in Hong Kong and I really think that we've found the right horse. I hate to say he's a Derby horse this far out from the race, but I do believe he is going to be that standard of horse when we do see the best of him. He just has to keep doing what he's doing and he will be in the race for sure.'
Let Me Handle It was forced to undergo two veterinary inspections before being cleared to run yesterday, but nobody would have guessed as the son of High Chaparral rounded them up and put them away in a few strides, coming from last to win by a soft five lengths.
'At the end of last season, he was new and green and that's something every horse has to go through,' Fownes said.
'He had the raw ability but didn't really understand what it was about and still today, he has ducked in sharply as he went to the front. He's still learning but he's got all this talent. And what really excites me is that, when you look at his pedigree, he really should want something more than mile before he shows us his best. So, if he can stay and he keeps that big turn of foot that he's shown today, then we have something.'
With 2010 Derby winner Super Satin, 2009 Derby runner-up Thumbs Up and sprinter Green Birdie heading the Group One team, Fownes believes he has the depth at the top end to keep John Moore honest in the race for the top stake-money earnings.
