Fortune Bowl winner Blizzard looked shipshape when he came out for a barrier trial on Tuesday.
Ridden by Daniel Moor, the former Hong Kong-based and Ricky Yiu-trained topline sprinter ran a closing third to Bold Thruster (John Powell), who looked unstoppable once he took up the running enroute to an easy all-the-way win.
Settled at the rear earlier, the Lee Freedman-trained Blizzard did make stacks of ground once Moor got on his bike at the 600m as they plotted a path on the outside, finishing less than two lengths off Bold Thruster.
Returning from a lengthy careless riding suspension (incurred from three back-to-back charges) this Sunday, Moor, who was aboard at Blizzard’s one and only Kranji win in four starts in the Group 3 Fortune Bowl (1400m) on February 6, will be back aboard at his next start in the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy (1400m) on April 7.
During the ban, the Victorian jockey missed the Starcraft seven-year-old’s last start when a game third to Debt Collector for Freedman’s apprentice jockey Iskandar Rosman in a Class 1 race over 1400m on March 10.
“Blizzard has been ticking over nicely. It’s good to be back on him,” said Moor after Tuesday’s hit-out.
“He ran good last start. He had a pretty economical run and ran on well.
“He’s been well placed in his races and he has acclimatised very well. It was not a taxing run and he was come out of it in good order.
“Today, obviously, Polytrack is not his preferred surface, and he likes chasing when there is a hot speed. I’m very happy with the way my bloke finished off.”
Blizzard was always meant to run in the original Chairman’s Trophy scheduled for March 3, but after it was postponed to April 7, he was still kept on course towards the Group 2 race, but via the Class 1 event on March 10 as an interim run.
With four weeks between runs, Freedman did ask Moor to not let the Hong Kong Group 3 winner (Chinese Club Challenge Cup over 1400m on January 1, 2017 when partnered by Joao Moreira) loaf around in Tuesday’s trial.
“He’s fine. We just have to tune him up,” said the Australian Hall of Fame trainer.
“I liked that trial this morning. He is a good-doing horse, and as he is an older horse, we have to put in some work into him to maintain his weight.
“I did tell Dan to keep him to the mark today. It was a good solid trial.
“He’ll be taking on the likes of Debt Collector, and the same old suspects in the Chairman’s Trophy. Dan will be back on and I expect a good run from him.”