Ryan Moore pushed down in his seat and tightened his legs, even as he gathered his grip. After a minute and thirty seconds, it was time and, as if on cue, Maurice, attuned to these signals, instinctively knew what to do next. In a matter of moments, in that indescribable moment, he became one with his rider and the rest as they say, is history.

Maurice has been one of those very rare thoroughbreds. One, that has been given the time and opportunity to strengthen and mature into what he is today. Restricted to eighteen hundred metres and below till recently, he became recognized as a one of the best specialist milers in Asia if not the world. To stamp his authority on that title, he duly obliged in the Longines Hong Mile last year and the Champions Mile this, even as his master looked to the longer middle distance trip of a mile a quarter and a possible tilt at the Longines Hong Kong Cup. On the 30^th of October, he stormed home in the Tenno Sho over the trip and this race looked perfectly set up for him.

Great rivalries evoke great romance and there is no greater romance than in horse racing. When two champions clash, it seems that even before their broadswords are drawn, legends have already been created. Unfortunately, horse racing is also an unforgiving sport and reputations are often destroyed in a matter of minutes. While most were favouring Maurice to win his second Longines Hong Kong International race in two years, it wasn’t long before the whispers of a rivalry between the defending champion in The Longines Hong Kong Cup, A Shin Hikari, grew into a shout.

A Shin Hikarihad stunned the racing world when he went to the front in The Longines Hong Kong Cup last year and expected to reproduce these tactics again, he would try and take the sting out of Maurice by exacting a strong pace and testing the miler’s stamina limitation.

Out of the gates and A Shin Hikari darted to the lead with Ryan Moore happy to keep Maurice switched off at the back. In what looked to be strong fractions for each of the quarters, it was about three furlongs out that Moore and Maurice decided that it was time. In what almost seemed like the parting of the Red Sea, the gaps came for Maurice and in a trice, that felt more like slow motion, Maurice went past a fading A Shin Hikari, even pulling away from the others by the time the post came. It was a fitting statement.

Earlier in the day, Moore had narrowly failed to get Highland Reel over the line in the Vase and Zac Purton had seemed to steal the show with back to back group one victories in the sprint and mile.  However, in a yearthat has been punctuated by Found, Arrogate and California Chrome to name just a few, Ryan Moore wrote yet another chapter that has marked him not just as a champion jockey but as one of the greats alongside Piggott, Dettori and so many others. Maurice, who was an integral part of this journey will find his place in history too.The record crowd at Sha Tin had witnessed something special and over time many will tell their own stories of how the day was won and lost. The end however will all be the same. It will be about Maurice!