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Murray Bell

John Moore can set himself up for a big weekend celebration at Sha Tin this  weekend with at least one win at Happy Valley tonight, and the horse most likely to oblige is Master Gunner in the sixth event.
Moore is placed on 997 winners,  and a victory tonight could see him perfectly placed to become the first jockey or trainer to complete 1,000 wins  on Sunday at Sha Tin.
Master Gunner is only a three-year-old and is receiving weight from all but one of his rivals in the Mount Butler Handicap (1,650m). And his sound performance last start under Emma-Jayne Wilson was a terrific pointer.
Unfortunately for Canadian Wilson, who rode two seconds at Sha Tin on Saturday and is bursting to win her first  race in Hong Kong, she has been unable to retain the ride on Master Gunner.
That honour has gone to champion jockey Douglas Whyte, who is still a runaway leader - despite having received four suspensions for the season - as he ruthlessly chases down an eighth successive premiership title,
Master Gunner is an American-bred son of the champion sprinter Orientate. He was an early maturing individual and raced six times as a juvenile in England, winning on the final occasion over a mile at Kempton on the polytrack.
He has now had three outings for Moore since kicking off his new career and it is hard to reach any conclusion other than his form is on an upward spiral.
However, none of this was any secret to the astute army of early players last night. By 7pm they had hammered Master Gunner into a HK$30 favourite.
The shortest priced favourite on the programme was Good Touch, to be ridden by apprentice Terry Wong Chi-wai, in the opening event.
Good Touch, a member of the Danny Shum Chap-shing team, dominated betting at HK$21.



Gunner can keep the ball rolling for Moore