The margin for error in world-class sprint races is tiny. Miss a beat at the stalls and it can be tough to recover. Catch a slight bump in running and it could be game over.
Such fine margins make it hard for any horse to dominate Hong Kong’s unforgiving speed division, but Karis Teetan feels Mr Stunning is “right at his peak” as he bids to follow up a thrilling G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) win in Sunday’s (20 January) G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m).
The Exceed And Excel gelding looked in pole position to become champion sprinter for trainer John Size this time last year, lining up in the inaugural G1 running of this race as 1.8 favourite after his first Hong Kong Sprint success.
Then those fine margins intervened. D B Pin swooped late to beat Mr Stunning a neck in this race; stablemate Beat The Clock did likewise in the G2 Sprint Cup; and Ivictory grabbed the champion sprinter crown by holding him by half a length in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize.
But much has changed since then. Out went former rider Nash Rawiller due to suspension; in came a new trainer in Size’s former assistant Frankie Lor; back came an old ally in Karis Teetan; and the Mauritian rider has no hesitation in saying that Mr Stunning’s second Hong Kong Sprint win last month has helped him to a new level.

Teetan hungry for more G1 glory

 “Mr Stunning has to be the most important horse in my career so far as he gave me my biggest win but he’s always been special, even going back to the days when I won on him at Happy Valley on his first two starts in 2016,” said Teetan.
“That Hong Kong Sprint win last month was a different feeling. You can never know what it’s like to win a championship race until you actually get in that position, but days like that give you extra belief and also a hunger to do it all again.”
Doing it all again this weekend involves taking on some very familiar rivals – headed by D B Pin and Beat The Clock.
“Tactics could be a big thing for all of us but Mr Stunning is very easy to ride,” he said. “He can produce his kick from wherever you want so I just have to ride him with confidence.
“Frankie had him in great condition last month and the way he has gone in his last two trials he still seems in top shape. It’s not easy to go from Group 1 to Group 1, as we saw in this race last year, but I have confidence in this horse and I think he can do it.”

Pin bidding to chalk up another for the battlers

Look at it one way and D B Pin has work to do to beat Mr Stunning in Sunday’s Centenary Sprint Prize.
After all, the Lor-trained gelding has come out on top in five of their last six meetings – including a three quarter-length success in the Hong Kong Sprint.
However, D B Pin quickened too well for Mr Stunning when giving Olivier Doleuze his last Hong Kong G1 success in this race last year and Sam Clipperton is hoping a gelding he calls “the battler’s horse” can provide him with a long-awaited first success at the top level in Hong Kong.
Clipperton has been battling against the odds himself of late and, with his flying start in Hong Kong a distant memory as rides have dried up, and some important decisions lie ahead when his current contract expires on 17 February.
Champion trainer Size has supported him through a tough patch and Clipperton hopes to repay that faith with D B Pin. The rider points out that Mr Stunning had the benefit of a thorough preparation and two runs before last month’s big win, whereas D B Pin lined up with just one run in almost eleven months due to an injury absence.
“D B Pin was possibly a trial behind his opposition,” he added. “We thought he’d progress from the Hong Kong Sprint and, although I haven’t ridden him since, all the reports are that he’s come on again for that run.
“He’s become a bit of a people’s champion or perhaps the battler’s horse. He certainly helped Oli Doleuze out when he won this race last year so let’s hope he can do the same for me on Sunday!”

Moreira hoping time is right for Beat The Clock

Clipperton gets his chance to shine on D B Pin largely because Joao Moreira has opted to ride Beat The Clock and the Brazilian feels Size’s gelding could be ready to make a G1 breakthrough at the fifth attempt.
Moreira partnered beat The Clock and D B Pin in successive all-weather track trials on 11 January, easing the former well clear of limited gallopers over 1200m before partnering the latter to chase home Mr Stunning over 1050m.
Beat The Clock didn’t have to live up to his name in clocking much slower closing splits than D B Pin and yet Moreira feels the choice between the two wasn’t a difficult one.
“Based on that trial I don’t think anyone else would choose the other one,” he said. “Beat The Clock’s trial was very impressive and I don’t remember him trialling any better. I think he’s a little bit more mature now and that’s a big plus.”
Sunday’s race also includes John Moore’s improving three-year-old Styling City, while David Hall’s Little Giant takes on Mr Stunning and company again after a fine fourth in the Hong Kong Sprint. The eight-runner field is completed by G1-placed Fifty Fifty, Winner’s Way and Born In China.

Social media tells the Beauty Generation story

Beauty Generation is currently rated 127, the equal highest in Hong Kong history alongside Moore’s previous mile champion Able Friend.
On Wednesday (23 January), the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities will release the 2018 LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings and the Hong Kong Jockey Club has made a series of 60-second videos to coincide with their star galloper’s impressive rating.
Those videos will premiere across its social media channels, telling the Beauty Generation story from the perspective of the people closest to the horse: Moore; owner Patrick Kwok; the champion’s mafoo (groom); jockey Zac Purton; and the Jockey Club’s CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.