PRAWN BA BA (哈蝦巴爸)

24th January 2018

Trainer John Size has been enjoying a great run with the Price Bloodstock horses lately and on Wednesday night it was the turn of Prawn Baba to get back in the winner’s stall on the Sha Tin dirt.

The five-year-old was good enough to earn a place in the Derby field last season but had won only once in Hong Kong and Size said it was a typical story with middle distance horses here after the gelding strolled in after a great Sam Clipperton ride.

“He hasn’t won for a while but it isn’t because he isn’t good enough – he’s just hard to place,” Size explained. “You see quite a few horses here in that bracket. There are not that many opportunities for middle distance types once they get their rating to a certain point and they can get stuck in Class 2 without suitable races.”
The key for Prawn Baba was a rare extended band race over 1,800m on the dirt which allowed him to drop back into a Class 3, which his 85 rating would not normally allow.

“The 1,800m seems to suit him and he’s won both of his races at that distance and, once again, there are fewer of those than there are, say, mile races, which he finds a touch short,” Size said.

Despite the rarity of wins in his formline, Prawn Baba has still managed to rack up more than $4 million in stake money.

“He had the pace to use the inside draw and put them away really well when I went for him,” said Clipperton.