John Size made his first entry on the season’s scoresheet with exciting sprinter Teofilo Calva at Sha Tin on Sunday but the trainer wasn’t making any ambitious forecasts despite the gelding’s obvious talent.
Teofilo Calva was the third odds-on favourite of the afternoon, and of the season, and the first of them to salute but not until jockey Joao Moreira had some anxious moments extricating the five-year-old from a pocket.
Box-seated out of the gates behind Gorgeous Debut and Precision King, Moreira had a lapful of horse and nowhere to go at the 300m and had to wait while the leaders tired and opened up for him. For a relatively inexperienced horse, it was the first time Teofilo Calva had not been in clear room during a race.
“He never had to do that kind of thing before so it was another new experience for him and he handled it well. He’s a very straightforward, professional horse and I think he’s still on the way up,” Moreira said after clearing away to win by a length and a half. “He seems stronger this season and I felt that when I jumped on him in the parade ring.”
And that particular factor is going to determine the path Size is forced to take with Teofilo Calva, whose four smart wins from six starts might normally have a trainer talking him up for the big time. Not John Size.
“He’s going to be five soon and that’s just his sixth start and, in all of last season, I was only able to take him to the races three times,” Size explained. “There isn’t anything wrong with him but, whenever you race him, he doesn’t do very well afterwards. So that’s why Teofilo Calva has those big spaces between his runs and that’s why everyone might be wondering about where he’s going but I’m certainly not thinking about Group races.”
“I’m just hoping he’s fine tomorrow (Monday).”
Size said the gelding’s handicap rating would still only be in the 90s after (Sunday)’s victory so any talk, even of any tentative plan with the aim of qualifying Teofilo Calva for the December internationals is premature.
“He has his share of ability and is putting together a record that suggests he will run well in a Class One but for a horse who usually needs time off, it wouldn’t be possible to get him up the ratings quick enough for December,” Size pointed out. “He doesn’t feel weak and he doesn’t race weak – he just does it a bit tough after every race he has. But what I’m hoping is that, as he matures, he may change and get stronger and deal with it better.”
The win put Size on the scorecard for the season but came as a welcome relief for Moreira, who had already been beaten on the two earlier odds-on favourites, Brilliant Dream and Faster More, but the Brazilian ultimately finished the day with a double and the Jockey Challenge.
– scmp.com
