Chris So’s season has been laboured but the Hong Kong handler saddled his fourth winner inside of three weeks when Foodie Princess (Sepoy x Raziyya of Sydney) nailed his second course and distance success on the bounce in the Class 4 Tiu Keng Leng Handicap (1650m) at Sha Tin on Wednesday night.
“It was slow in the early part of the season but I think things are picking up,” So said. “Some horses needed time, those young horses, and now some of the older horses are dropping to a more suitable rating.”
Foodie Princess, who was sold out of Trelawney Stud’s 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling draft, took 10 runs to break his maiden but is doing his part now and swooped powerfully from deep under Moreira to score by three and a half lengths.
“It seems that he’s maturing mentally, he’s calmer at the races now than he was earlier in the season. He used to be really keen in the parade ring and he sweated a lot but he’s getting better,” So said of the Sepoy four-year-old.
“He’s more relaxed in his trackwork, we’ve put him in the last batch, we’re not rushing him and he’s calmer. He’s still young so he just needs time.
“I’ll stick to the dirt with him,” he continued. “There’s no point to go to the grass as long as we have the options for him in this class; I think he’s good at 1800 metres also, so there’s a race in March he could go for.”
Bred by Trelawney Stud, Foodie Princess is out of four time winning Redoute's Choice mare Raziyya of Sydney. Her yearling colt by Savabeel was sold for $150,000 last month at the New Zealand Bloodstock yearling sales. -HKJC, Trelawney Stud
