HONG KONG - Ivictory is a young horse getting better fast. Showing his ability in an international race, Ivictory won his group stakes debut in Sunday’s Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin Racecourse over the proven stakes winners Mr Stunning and Beat the Clock. The first three finishers are trained by John Size. Ridden by Zac Purton, who notched his second Group 1 win of the day, Ivictory had an ideal trip in the $2.039 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize at six furlongs on turf. Purton had Ivictory well placed early, stalking the pace of Peniaphobia and Blue Point through the first half of the race. “I thought I could get forward and get the right spot,” Purton said. Ivictory took the lead before the stretch and won by a half-length over Mr Stunning. “He held them off in the final furlong,” Purton said. “The race set up well for him and he showed he has the class.” Ivictory (8-5) ran six furlongs in 1:08.53. The race was timed from a standing start. Mr Stunning, the winner of the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint in December who was sent off at 2-1, seemed poised to pass Ivictory in early stretch, but could not close the necessary ground. “He took awhile to use his turn of (foot),” jockey Sam Clipperton said. “I was beaten by a better horse.” Beat the Clock, the 6-5 favorite who was second in the Hong Kong Sprint last December, finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Ivictory. Fine Needle, the winner of the Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen for turf sprinters in Japan on March 25 for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing, finished fourth, followed by Lucky Bubbles, Peniaphobia, Amazing Kids, Thewizardofodds, and Blue Point. Blue Point’s performance was a disappointment. Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin Racing, Blue Point was withdrawn from the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai on March 31 after he showed blood in a nostril in the moments before the start. Blue Point finished 10 3/4 lengths behind Ivictory. Jockey William Buick said Blue Point did too much in the first half of the race. “I got to where he wanted to be, he was always comfortable, but turning into the straight, he fell away very quickly,” Buick said. Ivictory, a 4-year-old Australian-bred gelding, has won seven of eight starts in a career that began last May. His only loss was a fourth-place finish in a minor handicap last June. Ivictory won his first two races. He rebounded from the loss to win a handicap last July, but did not race again until early February. On March 7, in his third start of the year, Ivictory set a course record of 1:08.52 for six furlongs at Happy Valley that led to his appearance in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize. “He gave us all the right signs and his win rate was good,” Size said. “They’ve been emphatic victories.” Size said Ivictory will not race again until the 2018-19 Hong Kong season begins in September.