TOP BEAUTIFUL

11th September 2016

Price Bloodstock’s promising four-year-old representative Top Beautiful was supposed to have a cake walk to win his second start after bolting in first-up and his number did go In the frame but not before his trainer Chris So was a sweating mess.

Like everyone else, So was immensely confident that Top Beautiful would make the rise to Class 3 successfully but, when it came down to a tight photo, he was as nervous as the punters that made the horse an odds-on favourite.

“He didn’t win by far but I think we have to look at the positives,” So said. “He did still win, and the second horse beat the rest by nearly 3 lengths, so it still wasn’t a bad win. So he did perform but obviously needs to keep Improving On that as he goes up in class.”

Jockey Joao Moreira though was surprisingly upbeat about Top Beautiful.

“I think I rode one of Chris’ best horses today and, even if he isn’t all there yet, I think Top Beautiful could go on to be the highest-rated horse Chris has ever trained,” Moreira said. “I was not worried about him going up to Class Three, because we have a big opinion of him, but it was only his second race, he was meeting some much more experienced horses and some specialists over the straight 1,000m. Last time, he had the rail, this time he was out away from the rail in the centre of the track. He didn’t quite know what to do when I went for him but he still got there to win.”

Two out of two down the straight reads well but Moreira said he is looking forward to seeing Top Beautiful around a turn and over further.

“Straight away after the win, I said to Chris that if he will want to step this horse up in distance now, I would say don’t hesitate,” the jockey said.