Trainer John Size hopes to make up for lost time with Insayshable when the Irish import contests the Class 2 Manawatu Racing Club Challenge Trophy Handicap (1800m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (27 June).
Insayshable arrived in Hong Kong as the winner of two of his four starts in Ireland when trained by Ger Lyons, as well as finishing fourth in the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial (2000m) at Leopardstown in May last year. G1 performers Douglas Macarthur and Yucatan were ahead of him that day, as was multiple G1 winner Capri.
Those efforts stamped him as a likely BMW Hong Kong Derby type, a viewpoint only bolstered when he finished third over the Happy Valley 1650m at his Hong Kong debut in December.
But while the winner that night, Singapore Sling, went on to claim the Hong Kong Classic Cup and finish second to Size’s Ping Hai Star in the Derby, Insayshable was confined to his box. He has not raced since.
“He had a fracture in one of his hind legs and he has had four months’ rest with it,” Size explained at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning (26 June). “It seems fine now, though. He’s done plenty of work, he seems in pretty good shape and so I’m happy to run him now.
“He’s raced at Happy Valley before, he’s run well there, so I think he will acquit himself well. The Happy Valley 1800m will be a good test for him, especially without a race under him, but his trials have been good and he seems like a horse who has some staying ability so I think he might have the stamina for it.”
For now, Size is happy to have Insayshable back at the races, but the champion trainer has not ruled out the possibility that the Rajj four-year-old could potentially have Group races on the horizon.
“I have no special plan for him, but he might be able to have two runs before the end of the season,” Size said. “It depends where his rating goes; if he has the quality to run in the better races, we will head towards them. We will find out pretty quickly what his fate is, I think, and how high he can go.
“He’s got a good temperament and he seems sound. Those two things are very important in any racehorse. There’s nothing really that you could wish that he had, I think he’s got all the attributes required.”
Joao Moreira takes to the saddle on Insayshable, with the pair to jump from gate one as the Brazilian looks to eat into Zac Purton’s jockeys’ championship lead. Purton, who holds a five-win margin with six meetings left in the season, rides the Tony Cruz-trained Doctor Geoff (128lb), sixth in both the Hong Kong Classic Cup and Hong Kong Derby.
Insayshable meets a handy field assembled for the night’s feature at Happy Valley, including last-start winner Pikachu (126lb) and in-form gallopers Litterateur (128lb) and Winning Faith (123lb).
The Manawatu Racing Club Challenge Trophy is the fifth of eight races on the midweek card and is scheduled to jump at 9.15pm, with the opener, the Class 5 Po Toi Handicap (2200m), set for 7.15pm.
