JOHN MOORE

Another Australian coming home is seven-time Champion Hong Kong Trainer John Moore. Moore has been informed that his licence will not be renewed for the 2020/21 season in Hong Kong, as he will have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 by then. Such is Moore’s popularity with both the punting public and Hong Kong owners, the HKJC made an exception and permitted him to continue training past the original retirement deadline of 65, but it will not be happening again.

That gives Moore and wife Fifi a bit over a year to set things up in Australia, almost certainly in his home town of Sydney, but that will not be smooth sailing. Stabling at the four Sydney metropolitan tracks is at a premium, with the majority owned by the Sydney-based Australian Turf Club (ATC), whose waiting list is years in length. With prize money at levels unimaginable just a few years ago, everybody wants to train in Sydney and finding boxes to accommodate even half the number of owners Moore is likely to attract will require some conjuring on the part of the ATC’s James Heddo, particularly if Moore’s preferred destination is, as expected, Randwick.

There are two possible solutions. Firstly, as part of the rental contract with the ATC, all trainers are subject to certain key performance indicators, one of which is a monthly number of starters in metropolitan races dependent on how many boxes the trainer has. Should a trainer consistently fail to meet the target they may be asked to seek other accommodation. The alternative is the HKJC swoop on one of Sydney’s leading young trainers and Moore slips seamlessly in. This looks unlikely as the smart money suggests Moore’s replacement is currently training out of Victoria.