Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has confirmed that next season will be trainer John Moore’s last, with the club’s retirement rule set to be enforced.
Moore was granted a special extension at the usual retirement age of 65, four years ago, but Jockey Club executive director of racing Andrew Harding said there was a hard cap at 70.
Moore is keen to train on beyond 70 and speculation has been rife in recent weeks that his late-season bid to claim this season’s trainers’ premiership could earn him another extension, but that now looks out of the question.
“One thing that is very important is that everyone is treated fairly, the goalposts were set in 2013, they were clearly known, and they are consistently applied,” Harding told the South China Morning Post.
Moore puts the polish on New Zealand-bred gelding Beauty Generation, who is rated the world’s best miler, while he also trains rising three-year-old Aethero, who has been dominant in his three starts at two.
Having held a licence since 1971, Moore will depart Hong Kong next year as the record holder for all-time career prize money, having amassed almost HK$2 billion for connections in his career while training more winners (1,675) than anyone else in the territory.