John Size quinellaed Saturday’s Class One Hong Kong Macau Trophy (1,400m) at Sha Tin with his two runners in the revived interport series, brown-lamped plunge horse Red Lion beating odds-on favourite Beauty Eternal by one and three-quarter lengths.

Punted from $18 to $5.4 in the final 30 minutes of betting, Red Lion – whose best pre-import performance was his seven-furlong handicap victory on a good-to-yielding surface at The Curragh in Ireland this time last year – relished encountering his first rain-affected track since arriving in Hong Kong.

“He drew the right gate for it, and he looked like he was going to have every possible chance before the start of the race after the rain came and the track started to deteriorate,” said Size of Red Lion, who won back-to-back contests over 1,400m at Sha Tin before his course-and-distance flop behind five of his Hong Kong Macau Trophy opponents three weeks ago.

Red Lion began the first interport series event since the 2019 leg at Sha Tin from barrier 13. Alexis Badel allowed the four-year-old galloper to travel in the better ground for the opening 600m of the 14-runner race, eventually positioning him one off the fence behind Hong Kong leader Circuit Stellar and Macau visitor Star Of Yiu Cheung at the halfway point.

The front runners made their way towards the centre of the course, but whereas Star Of Yiu Cheung gave ground quickly, Circuit Stellar kept up his strong gallop to be a couple of lengths on top with 300m remaining. However, Red Lion moved alongside the pacesetter 150m from home and scored well from $1.9 favourite Beauty Eternal, who clocked the same 11.98-second final 200m sectional as his stablemate.

“It was very smooth. I had all the benefits of the wide gate to take as much time as I needed to come across. Once I realised I could have a nice spot behind the leader away from the rail on the good ground, I seized the opportunity,” said Badel, who won his first interport series race and helped Size secure his second success following Slow Waltz’s victory in the 2008 Hong Kong Macau Trophy.

“Entering the straight, I thought Circuit Stellar was going way better on the rail, so I cut the corner to follow him, knowing my horse would really enjoy the soft ground – his action was pretty good.

“He was strong on the line carrying the light weight, which was a huge advantage.”

Size, who described Beauty Eternal’s effort as “very brave … he’s done a good job to get so close to the winner”, would not speculate about short-term targets for the beaten Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) favourite and the heavily backed Hong Kong Macau Trophy victor, but a couple of Group Three handicaps – the Lion Rock Trophy over 1,600m on June 4 and the Premier Cup over 1,400m on June 25 – are feasible options.

Hong Kong horses filled the first six places in the 33rd race of the interport series, which the city’s gallopers lead 15-2 on home soil and 23-10 overall.

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Nicholas Moore-prepared seventh finisher Out To Win was the highest placed of the three Macau raiders, with Star Of Yiu Cheung 11th and Fifer 13th.

Size leads this season’s trainers’ championship on 61 wins – nine more than Frankie Lor Fu-chuen – while Zac Purton bagged a double despite Beauty Eternal’s defeat to improve to 134 victories this term.