JUNEAU PARK, PICKEN & SHINING ACE
29th March 2020
Price Bloodstock has had a great connection with champion trainer John Size and with Brazilian riding star Joao Moreira and that combination was part of a big day at Sha Tin on Sunday for all three parties.
Moreira had a 5-win day, three of them on horses sourced from Price Bloodstock and trained by Size, including the milestone of the jockey’s 900th Hong Kong winner on Picken.
It was no easy task, requiring all of the skill and tenacity of both horse and rider as Picken scored in a tight finish for his fourth win over the Sha Tin 1400m course and pushing his stake earnings past $4 million.
“It’s amazing how hard it was to win this race! The second horse didn’t want to give up but neither did Picken and fortunately I had the edge on him at the right time,” Moreira said. “We knew Picken was coming to form – he’s at a quite nice place in the handicap and we knew he was there to win his race and I’m very lucky to be getting on him at the right time.”
Moreira has had the knack of being on Picken in all of those wins and he also likes what he sees from big, lightly-raced four-year-old Juneau Park, who landed back to back wins for him earlier in the day.
“My opinion is high, he’s a nice horse,” Moreira said. “Only good horses do what he has done – I know he had a suitable run today but he had to improve to win today carrying topweight. He hasn’t been exposed yet with only five starts and he has won two of them and I don’t think we’re near to the best of him yet. He’s a big horse still learning but he is going ahead every time and this indicates to me that he’s not a bad one.”
The son of Ocean Park looks like the best of him won’t be seen until he gets to longer distances so posting a 40 per cent win rate at this stage in races only up to 1400m indicates plenty of promise.
And what a stellar season Shining Ace has put together, with 11 starts for 3 wins and 7 placings now. Already the winner of the Happy Valley Million Challenge, Shining Ace has now successfully shifted his game back to Sha Tin and ran away with the Class 2 like a horse with more wins to come, taking his stakemoney past $6 million, and also picking up a $1 million Jockey Club High Achievement Bonus for the win on top of that.