THERE was great cheering in Naas stud farm Swordlestown Little last Sunday morning as breeders Des Leadon and Mariann Klay watched Dinozzo win the Group 3 Centenary Vase at Sha Tin.

Not only did Des and Mariann breed Dinozzo, they also bred his sire Lilbourne Lad. Dinozzo began his racing career with Ger Lyons and won a Navan maiden on his racecourse debut in 2015 in the colours of Sean Lyons at 25/1.

Sold privately to Hong Kong afterwards, he has now won five races for trainer John Size. Last Sunday’s win was remarkable as it came just four days after Dinozzo won a Class 2 handicap at Happy Valley.

Size is a rare proprietor of the quick back-up, only producing horses off a three- or four-day lay-off four times this decade.

“I think the winter makes it easier to back up, for the horses at least,” the trainer said.

“In the summer, it’s very tough. We only have a very short period of cold weather in Hong Kong so the opportunities aren’t there as much. I did do it quite often when I was training in Sydney, but it was a completely different environment.

“I’ve seen some of the boys do it here though, with good results. It’s just not me, usually. But in this particular case, we had a rating issue in terms of the class.

“We had a horse that we thought would handle it and we had the climate to help us out. Obviously, he’s handled the back-up from Wednesday night and he’s done what we’d hoped.”

Once the horses had reached the gates, the baton was passed from Size to Moreira. In a manner befitting his status as champion jockey, the Brazilian rider took advantage of a lack of pace in the seven-runner field, taking Dinozzo straight to the lead and dictating terms at a moderate tempo.

“Under the circumstances, they let me do everything I wanted in front,” Moreira said.

“I was going easy out in front and building up from the 600 metres, so it was going to be hard for them to come and pass him. He’s such a fit horse.”

MORE REIN

At the top of the straight, Moreira slipped his charge more rein, with the bay quickly putting up a large margin on his rivals. As a measure of Dinozzo’s dominance on speed, the Tony Cruz-trained runner-up Gold Mount (129lb) produced the third-fastest last sectional over the Sha Tin 1800m in the last four years, only bettered by multiple Group 1 winners Designs On Rome and Helene Paragon.

However, that 21.93s closing split could only get the stayer within three and a half lengths of the winner.

Moreira was full of praise for Size, with the rider saying the horse was in tip-top shape at Sha Tin on Sunday.

“John Size used the race in Happy Valley on Wednesday to prepare him for this and he did it pretty well,” he said. “Wednesday night was pretty much like a barrier trial, in the end. And, obviously, all the credit should go to John.”

Options now may be limited for Dinozzo, with Size not ruling out a start in the Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) on February 25th.

“I said there weren’t many options the other day, and it’s going to be even harder now!” he said. “We’ve got the prize money at least for the owners, so the plan’s worked in that sense. I will see where he ends up in the ratings tomorrow. I never make any decisions on a racetrack, so let’s wait and see.”

John Moore’s Group 3 January Cup Handicap (1800m) winner Eagle Way (131lb) finished third with BMW Hong Kong Derby aspirants Rivet (113lb) and Ruthven (113lb) fifth and sixth respectively.