Tried and tested - Size ready to throw tough Flying Blue into the deep end

Most often John Size lets the handicapper dictate where his winners will run next, but the trainer is taking a different tack with Flying Blue and is ready to throw him 'in to the deep end' in the Group Two Chairman's Trophy next month.

Yet to finish out of the first two in his six outings, Flying Blue landed his third win and crowned a treble for Douglas Whyte by stepping to 1,600m for the first time and passing the test, less comfortably than his backers would have liked but enough to satisfy Size.

Whyte wasn't afraid to sit out a little wide and ensure clear running for the short-priced favourite, but stablemate Hot Shot (Keith Yeung Ming-lun) gave him all sorts of scares before a neck margin separated the pair.

'He was sort of becoming inconvenienced in the 1,400m races and I thought over 1,400m in a higher class race, well, it just might be a bit busy for him,' Size (pictured) explained.

'Last time he led at 1,400m and he settled very nicely so I thought we'd try him at 1,600m and see if he could make that step because if he's going to be a good horse, he needs to be able to run a mile.'

Flying Blue appeared to travel comfortably in the run and looked set to do it easily at the 200m before the underrated Hot Shot just kept the pressure up and made things interesting.

'I think Flying Blue was well tested at the mile today - three deep, facing the breeze and went to sleep until the jockey wanted him to go,' Size said.