COUNTRY STAR 鄉村瑰寶

18th October 2018

Exciting three-year-old Country Star made short work of his first attempt at Class 3 at Happy Valley on Thursday night as the impressive Price Bloodstock youngster took his record to two wins from three starts and put all the focus on his future.

The Starcraft three-year-old promises to run further later on but is showing plenty of natural speed over 1,200m at the moment and had more than enough to stroll in against a field of older, more experienced gallopers.

Zac Purton parked him straight into the box seat run from an inside gate and Country Star didn’t give favourite backers any moment of worry before putting up a comfortable victory margin of just over a length.

“He’s done everything right since he’s been to the races,” said his trainer John Size. “The market told you that most people thought he would win and, with the run that he had, he wouldn’t have had too much excuse but the ratings tell you he has improved from the first win to the second and he did it with some authority. Hopefully he’ll keep on that upward path. As Country Star is a three-year-old, I’ll be keeping an eye on how quickly he is getting up the ratings but he’s coping with it so far.”

Both Size and Purton believe that Country Star will handle the bigger track at Sha Tin later, but Size is keeping him at Happy Valley for now, something he often does with younger horses while they are gaining experience.

“He begins well and has good natural speed and he’s getting around this track quite well,” said Purton. “As he matures and goes up the ratings, he’ll need to go to Sha Tin but I don’t think that will be a problem and John’s a master at knowing when to make the switch.”