Team Moore unleashed
John Moore sits third in the Hong Kong trainers’ premiership race, eight adrift of defending champion John Size and one behind fellow challenger Frankie Lor. His task is difficult with 15 meetings to go.
“To have a chance at winning the title, Sunday is very important. It’s not easy: John Size has got quite a good lead so we need a big day on the weekend to start to eat into that lead,” Moore said.
“I don’t know what of the newer brigade John Size has to come along before the end of the season but I know I’ve still got plenty of firepower in the stable and with proper placement I still have winners to come.
“But then there’s Frankie too, it’s not like it’s all about me and John Size, Frankie’s got tons of firepower so it’s going to come down to all the factors like fitness, placement, where horses draw.”
Moore, though, has plenty of ammunition for Sunday and holds a firm hope that his rising stars might catapult him closer to Size’s current tally of 64 wins.
“We have quite a few really top chances; we’ve got Styling City, Dan Control, Thanks Forever taking on Voyage Warrior, Aethero and even Touch Of Luck, who I thought was pretty unlucky the other day.”
Leading the charge is unbeaten griffin Aethero, hugely impressive in a straight track 1000m win at his only start. The Sebring chestnut will stride out around the turn over 1200m for the first time in the Liberator Plate.
“Aethero will have no problem with the 1200 metres, none at all. He’s very talented and he’ll be out there to extend his winning sequence. He’s a two-year-old, so he’s just in the building stage but I look at him – definitely next season – as being special.”
Another exciting prospect is Thanks Forever, unraced since a good debut win last June. But the Duporth three-year-old will face off against the scintillating Ricky Yiu-trained Voyage Warrior in the Class 3 Werther Handicap (1000m).
“Thanks Forever has had two trials and we have a very high opinion of him so it would be nice to see him put some writing on the wall with respect to the talent I know he’s got,” Moore said. “He’s not 100 percent due to a setback earlier in the season but he has plenty of ability and I’m sure he’ll run a nice race.”
Dan Control is another three-year-old project. After an eye-catching debut win, the Irish-bred posted an immature sixth-place defeat.
“We rode Dan Control in behind last time and he had hard luck throughout the race so we’ll forgive him that and hope for a good draw on the weekend so he can be right up on the speed like he was when he won,” the trainer said.
“He’s still a work in progress. He’s backward even though he’s talented – he’s an April foal so given time he’ll be a good horse.”
Meanwhile, Styling City could have taken his place in the Group 3 Sha Tin Vase Handicap (1200m) but Moore has opted to point owner Gary Ling’s pride at the Class 2 Viva Pataca Handicap over 1400m. All five of his career wins have been achieved over 1000m down the straight.
“I decided to give Styling City his chance at 1400 metres,” Moore said. “I didn’t want to go into the Group 3 off the ratings. He can get right up on the speed at the 1400 and all the signals I’m getting back from his races is that he wants to get over ground now.
“He seems to have a flat spot between the 500 (metres) and 300 (metres), like his mind is not on it. When the jockey gets to work on him he then hits the line again, so the 1400 should be just what he wants at this stage.”
Whichever way the results fall on Sunday, Moore’s top-three position is a massive improvement on last year’s low of 12th-place in the championship and 33 wins. The trainer puts that blip down to “restructuring” and “management changes” around the stable but with the right staff in place and a team of bright young prospects, a good weekend could set him on his way to the biggest of bounce-backs.
“It’s getting exciting. It’s a big turnaround from last season to this!” he said.