Sent out favourite for the 1400 metre contest, the Ricky Yiu trained five year-old won by nearly two lengths for Joao Moreira in a dominant display.
A Group I assignment is now on the cards for Blizzard, a horse that showed
plenty of promise when placing third last season in both the Group I Hong Kong
Classic Mile (1600m) and Group I Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m), two of Hong
Kong's three elite four-year-old contests. Ricky Yiu is in a quandary about which route to take next as regards distance.
"We'll definitely be looking at Group 1 races but I don't know which distance – I haven't really decided where he'll go next, I need to sit down and talk to the syndicate," Yiu said, with the Group I Stewards' Cup (1600m) later this month and February's Group I Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) likely to be under consideration.
"He showed last season that he's pretty versatile, he ran all the way up to 2000 metres in the Derby and he's shown his ability at 1400, a mile, 1800 – at this moment, I can't say for sure where I'll put him next time. We need to sit down and think about it."
A $75,000 Inglis Premier purchase from the Bellerive Stud draft for his trainer, Blizzard has won eight of 21 starts and is the 16th stakes-winner for Starcraft, who stood formerly at Arrowfield and now at Rosemont Stud.
He is the best of two winners from Stormy Choice, a Redoute's Choice three-quarter sister to Group I winner Danestorm.
Haunui Farm will offer the current yearling from Stormy Choice, a filly by Ferlax, at the NZB Select Yearling Sale as Lot 1062.
