July/24/13 - It has come as no great surprise to learn that the John Moore-trained Military Attack has been named ‘Horse of the Year’, the star mile and 10 furlong performer of Hong Kong racing having enjoyed an outstanding season.

The gelded son of high-class miler Oratorio has proved a revelation since joining his current handler after leaving the care of John Hills in England in March 2012.

He had shown himself to be a useful performer in Britain winning three of his six races – including the mile Deloitte Handicap at Ascot at betting odds of 10/1 – but is has only been since moving to the former British island of Hong Kong that the now five-year-old’s star has truly been in the ascendant.

Moore seems to have brought out the best in his charge, although he failed to score in his first five outings at big odds as he took time to acclimatise to the new surroundings. It was at Happy Valley in January that Military Attack got off the mark for his new connections in a Group 3 handicap, since when he has carried all before him, particularly in his last four starts, all victories, three of which have come in Group 1 company.

His February win in the Group 1 Hong Kong Gold cup at odds of 33/4 was followed by a Grade 3 success back at Sha Tin a month later. Despite those successes, there were few tips for Moore’s charge in the high profile Audemars Piquet QEII Gold Cup in April where, at odds of 105/10, he came with a tremendous late run to cut down California Memory to score by a length-and-three-quarters.

The icing on the cake for the new star of Hong Kong racing came at Kranji in Singapore in May. Putting up his best performance yet, Military Attack landed the £825,000 first prize with consummate ease, coasting to a more than three-length victory over Dan Excel at racing odds of 12/5.