Size refuses to rule rival Moore out of race for trainers' title

John Moore wasn't accepting defeat and John Size wasn't accepting victory but the bonus for the HSBC Premier Series was not the only thing that may have slipped away from Moore at yesterday's waterlogged meeting.

Size-trained Liberal's Choice (Olivier Doleuze) took advantage of the very wet ground and an on-pace bias to turn his customary lead role into a starring one in the seventh event that might just have sealed the trainer's fourth championship.

Size went seven wins clear of Moore with only nine meetings and 80 races to be decided and while neither man was declaring the event over, it looks a task for Moore to make up the leeway.

'I don't want to be saying it's finished until it's finished and that means when it's mathematically impossible,' replied Size bluntly to the suggestion his title was in the bag, and he needed to look no further than Moore's astonishing near-miss for the $200,000 HSBC series bonus cheque.

Moore had gone into yesterday's sixth and final series race 20 points clear of the nearest competitor and 21 in front of Tony Cruz.

To win the bonus, Cruz had to run the first three placings, at least, and Moore had to miss points altogether with Billet Express, which meant missing the first five.

Incredibly, Billet Express ran sixth and Cruz tierced the race to tally up 22 points and leave Moore shocked.