It wasn't to be for John Size and the seven-time championship winner was gracious in defeat behind John Moore but still left Sha Tin with a spring in his step, looking towards next season as Contentment took the traditional big race springboard race, the Sha Tin Mile Trophy.
"Look, John did a fantastic job to keep his horses going so well all season and full credit to him," Size said after the impossible task he faced on the final day became a historical fact and Moore downed him by seven wins.
"John's been a great trainer from even before I arrived here and that's two titles he's won since I got here and he wins the big ones too."
In recent years, the Trophy has been a stepping stone for the likes of Moore-trained Dan Excel and Designs On Rome towards Group One success the following season and Size has high hopes that Contentment (Joao Moreira) might have prefaced something similar with a hard-fought victory in the race yesterday.
"He didn't win by far but he had two fights to win to get home - the first with Fantastic Kaka and then when he'd fought him off Beauty Only arrived and he held him too, so he's done a good job yet again," Size said.
"What he's done in a first preparation has been exceptional, from Class Four to winning in Class One, and the way he runs a mile, he looks like he might run 1,800m or 2,000m in the right race and I'm sure we'll find something to aim him for next season."
He also teamed with Moreira to win the final event with Sun Jewellery, who stayed unbeaten as one of the excellent group of three-year-olds Size has turning four going into the next classic season.
"It's a nice position to be in, having some nice four-year-olds next season who are climbing the ratings well and it's a matter of sorting out their distances," he said.
Moreira had been a 1.18 favourite overnight for the Jockey Challenge, but drifted out to as much as 3.3 when Gerald Mosse landed four winners.
It is hard to think of any jockey not winning the day's honours after four victories but the Brazilian surged home, winning two of the last three races to give him four wins as well, and a second in the 10th race snatched the win.
"I'm not that surprised - when Gerald won those races I thought probably he was the winner but I always thought my best rides were in the late races. Still, the Jockey Challenge isn't something I think much about, I must confess," said Moreira, whose final tally for the term was 145 wins - 30 more than the previous record and 48 more than he managed in his first season.
"Wow. I never expected I could win so many races. I have no words to describe my happiness. But, you know, I can only do that because of the support I get from the trainers and owners. What the best sportspeople all try to do is keep improving, so that's what I want to do next season and I think I still can."
Moreira returns to Brazil for the summer before competing in the Super Jockey series in Japan just prior to the new season.
"I may even ride in Brazil. I have some good friends who are chasing me to ride some very good horses there so there might be one day of riding there but the most important thing is spending time with my family," he said.