Trainer tastes revenge after losing star to rival stable
It may have taken seven years and John Moore isn't the first person to discover that justice is rarely swift. But the Australian trainer feels it was finally served yesterday when his tungsten-tough, three-year-old Stay Young was able to claim the Group Three Sha Tin Mile Trophy from champion Electronic Unicorn.
Moore selected and purchased Electronic Unicorn for owner Lo Ying-bin at the 1997 Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington, Kentucky, but the great gelding was shifted by Lo to the stables of Ricky Yiu Poon-fie before he'd ever raced. If Moore's pain has eased at all with the passing of time, it's only been marginal.
'It hasn't been easy over these years, having bought Electronic Unicorn as a yearling and then watching him win race after race, and almost $34 million in prizemoney, but today was our day,' Moore said proudly. 'I went back home after the race, poured myself a whisky and repeated to myself, 'I've just beaten Electronic Unicorn'. I can't believe it.'
The Sha Tin Mile Trophy is a unique race, a $2.3 million event for horses that haven't won a Group One race over the previous 12 months. And that's why Electronic Unicorn was eligible, because he was off most of the year with injury.
'Stay Young received a weight allowance for being a three-year-old and Electronic Unicorn had a seven-pound penalty for his great record, so we ended up receiving 15 pounds from him,' Moore continued.