Hong Kong trainer John Moore believes his star New Zealand-bred galloper Beauty Generation is in the best shape of his career heading into the Group I Longines Hong Kong Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.
But his
three wins this preparation came as a bit of a surprise to Moore, particularly
when the six-year-old son of Road to Rock bettered the track record at Sha Tin
when winning the Gr.2 BOCHK Wealth Management Jockey Club Mile (1600m) last
month.
"The lead-up to the big race on Sunday he's done everything right," Moore said. "He surprised us in the beginning (of his preparation).
"We thought he went into his first race a bit underdone and in his second race we thought he had a ways to go and he keeps proving us wrong every time."
Moore said that Beauty Generation's performance last month was more surprising given that he had been suffering foot issues leading into the race, which have since been remedied.
"He came to the race two weeks ago with some foot issues, we had some sole issues – he is quite a flat footed horse," he said.
"We could see, even though he broke the track record, he still hung out and was quite sore after the race.
"We have got that all under control now, his feet are perfect."
While many have labelled the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sales graduate unbeatable leading into Sunday, Moore is a lot less forthright with his opinion, but has still labelled his charge a leading chance in the race.
"I'm not going out there saying he's a certainty, but he is absolutely in peak condition," he said.
"He vetted up this morning and trotted up like a gold medalist dressage horse at the Olympics. From that point-of-view he is going to be really hard to beat."
Beauty Generation is the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year. He was bestowed that honour after his three Group One victories last year, which included the Longines Hong Kong Mile.
He has recently been rated the world's best turf miler after his winning performance in the Gr.3 Celebration Cup (1400m) – NZ Racing Desk
