It was a tale of two Johns at Sha Tin as Moore grabbed a treble, Size replied in kind and the trainers' championship remained the simmering thriller-in-waiting to this season.
Moore continues to defy the odds by leading the title race and slipped out to 58 wins and a lead of five with eight meetings to play after People's Knight (Gerald Mosse), Chevalier Star (Damian Lane) and Secret Sham (Nash Rawiller) gave him first half honours.
But Size was up for the fight, claiming the final three races with Country Melody (Rawiller), Red Dancer (Joao Moreira) and Contentment (Moreira) to join winless Caspar Fownes on 53 victories and second place, and continue in pursuit of his eighth title.
"I can't be confident - five wins is quite a big lead for this particular competition and with not too many meetings left, so I'll just keep doing my best and hoping," said Size, who may bring all three of his winners back to the races before the season's end. "I'll see how they are at home - it's very hot at this end of the season and racing can take a lot out of them but if they come through it all right, there's still time to run again."
Both Size and Moreira are looking even further ahead though with Contentment after the four-year-old made his return to racing a winning one and surely sealed the season's Most Improved Award. He already held the top position after lifting his rating 43 points but it will rise further again now.
"The Derby came up fairly quickly for him and I thought he did a good job to make the field at just his seventh run in a race and his first preparation," Size said. "He had a month off after the Derby, did everything correctly in the mornings and to win the way he did today confirms he has the makings of a big future next season."
For Moore, winning the griffin event with People's Knight was more about relief than triumph as the two-year-old is the most expensive yearling purchase he has ever trained, knocked down in Sydney last year for A$1 million (HK$5.98 million).
"He was the pick of all the colts in the Sydney sale last year, the minute he walked out of the box I said to my son George that he is the type we want. The way he won today showed he really has some talent and with some physical and mental improvement he is going to be a very good horse next season," Moore said.
Chevalier Star was a first win for the top yard for Damian Lane and his fifth so far and showcased again how much improvement blinkers can bring a horse - awkward and slow to begin in the past, the three-year-old had still shown glimpses of ability but was a different animal as he bowled straight to the lead at over 40-1.
"I've ridden him nearly every day the last 10 days and he really benefited from the blinkers," said Lane. "I gave him an 800m gallop down the back in them and he was really sharp, but I've cantered him since without them and he is a bit spooky with other horses, especially if one plays up. I thought if he could jump and find the front today he could run well but, if he was in the ruck, I knew he'd be out of play with horses all around him."
