John Size was a top trainer in Sydney before his arrival in Hong Kong in 2001 with a reputation for improving and rekindling the spark in his horses. He broke the mould by winning the trainers’ championship in his very first season. He was level with Caspar Fownes at the end of 2013/14 with 62 wins apiece as he chased an eighth title but Fownes was crowned champion on count-back with one more second-place finisher. Size notched that eighth championship in the 2015/16 season, while his ninth, in 2016/17, saw him set a new record for most wins in a season with 94 – 27 more than nearest rival John Moore. In winning his 10th title in 2017/18, Size set a new benchmark for earnings in a season, accruing total prize money of HK$176,441,240. His 11th title in 2018/19 was sealed after a tussle with rival john Moore that went to the season’s final day. He has trained the winners of two Horse of the Year titles, the multiple HKG1 scorers Electronic Unicorn and Grand Delight. In 2009/10 he trained Brave Kid to equal the then record of six wins in a season and Entrapment who finally broke that record with seven victories in just five months. In November, 2023 he soared higher into Hong Kong racing’s stratosphere with his 1,500th winner – one of only three trainers to reach the mark. At the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, he broke his deadlock with George Moore to become the only 12-time Hong Kong Champion Trainer in history. Size secured a record-extending 13th Hong Kong trainer’s championship in 2024/25 and took his overall Hong Kong career wins tally to 1,612. He claimed another Group 1 in 2025 with Red Lion, who captured the Champions Mile as a surprise 89/1 chance over Voyage Bubble.
