As Moore heads to retirement, his stars' futures uncertain

With trainer John Moore in the waning weeks of his long Hong Kong career, it’s uncertain what the future – both the rest of this racing season and the 2020-21 Hong Kong season – hold for two of his best-known charges, Beauty Generation and Aethero.

Hong Kong trainers face compulsory retirement at age 65. Moore, 70, got an extension from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, but he now is set to transfer his operation to his native Australia later this year.

Seven-year-old Beauty Generation, one of Hong Kong’s best horses ever, took a heartbreaking loss Sunday in the Group 1 Champions Mile, a race he was trying to win for the third straight year. Despite showing a dazzling finishing kick, Beauty Generation was narrowly beaten by Southern Legend. It’s uncertain whether he’ll start again this Hong Kong season. Moore has floated the idea of taking the gelding to Australia for one race followed by retirement, but Beauty Generation’s owners haven’t addressed that consideration and have not always followed Moore’s lead with the horse.

:: Download DRF's Guide to Betting Hong Kong Racing

Three-year-old Aethero bled from both nostrils finishing last in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize. He has plenty of racing in front of him, provided that problem can be overcome, but no plans have yet been announced.

Mr. Stunning retired

Seven-year-old gelding Mr. Stunning, who broke a long losing streak when he upset the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize on Sunday at Sha Tin, has been retired from racing by his owner, Maurice Koo Win-chong, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

:: Hong Kong: Free PPs, picks, analysis, replays, and live streaming

Mr. Stunning won the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint in 2017 when trained by John Size and won it again in 2018 for current trainer Frankie Lor, a former Size assistant. Mr. Stunning, by Exceed and Excel, was bred in Australia and could return there for his retirement, Lor said.

Class 3s at Happy Valley

A nine-race Happy Valley card Wednesday night in Hong Kong (first post 6:45 a.m. Eastern) ends with four consecutive Class 3 handicaps for horses rated 80 to 60. Two are sprints at 1,200 meters, two over a middle distance of 1,650 meters.

Race 7, one of the sprints, has three ratings risers, each coming off a win – Young Legend, Beauty Amigo, and Victoriam. Clifford Shum, who trains Victoriam, mitigates the extra weight his horse picks up following a one-length Class 3 win April 5 at Sha Tin by naming seven-pound apprentice Victor Wong.

There’s a fresh Hong Kong face in the same race, Super Dobbin, who was named Twilight Moon when he compiled a 4-2-2-0 record during a 2019 campaign in South Africa. Super Dobbin, trained by Tony Millard, won at the Group 3 level and was second in a Group 2 last May in his final South African start