Blizzard continued his march up the ratings and may get a test of his Classic Mile credentials next start after a gutsy victory in which everything seemed against Ricky Yiu Poon-fai's sprinter.
Whatever the plan was for Blizzard from his tricky gate in the 1,200m Class Two, Karis Teetan sitting three wide with no cover for the entire trip probably wasn't among options A, B or C.
The son of Starcraft shrugged off the tough trip though to knuckle down and catch runaway leader Go Baby Go, high-tailing in front under Kei Chiong Ka-kei's claim, and Blizzard's bold effort appeared another indication he could be a sneaky contender in the first of the four-year-old series races early next year.
Blizzard's rating is likely to be 90 or above when re-handicapped for the length victory, ensuring him of a start in the domestic Group One mile on January 24, and Yiu said a step up to 1,400m would happen before then.
"We will give him a chance to run 1,400m. That will be a challenge, but this horse has a great mindset," he said, adding that he wasn't overly concerned when Teetan was stuck deep. "Karis knows the horse, and even though he was trapped wide, he kept him relaxed and the horse really let down well."
Teetan won first-up on Blizzard this season and has now built a three from four record on a horse he labelled an exciting prospect.
"I knew there would be speed on and he jumped slightly slow, so I had to push him through because I didn't want to give away a big start," the rider said. "I thought if I sat back some of those fast horses would be difficult to catch, so it was a great effort given the work he did."
The jockey also gave credence to the belief that Blizzard will get further: "He is so relaxed now, he is even lazy - even though he was wide, he switched off. I did think he would quicken, but normally when a horse has had a hard run like that they do quicken for a moment, then fade. But the last part of his race was the best, he just strode away."
Yiu said he would monitor the health of his star sprinter Amber Sky in the coming days after his dual Group One winner finished last in the National Day Cup and veterinary inspections revealed no abnormalities.
"Let's hope he is OK. The top three horses finished nowhere, it was a funny race," Yiu said. "We've got a lot to think about with him as there are very few opportunities for him at home."
