MOREIRA - A TRULY WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE

By Darren Winningham | Sunday, December 8, 2019

Here is something you never thought you would read. Joao Moreira had gone without a Group 1 win on LONGINES Hong Kong International Races since 2016 … until today!

He came within a whisker of Group One LONGINES Hong Kong Vase glory last year with champion Japanese mare Lys Gracieux.

He looked all but certain to collect the prize when Lys Gracieux stormed past Exultant halfway up the Sha Tin straight before jockey Zac Purton lifted Exultant enough to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

In this year’s Hong Kong Vase, the star jockey rode the Tomohito Ozeki-trained Glory Vase who he believed may have flown under the radar in the lead-up to the race and Moreira’s judgement was proved correct when the Japan trained runner stormed to the lead after being in a precarious position coming around the turn at Sha Tin.

After the race Moreira said, “The horse settled well. II was in a tricky spot for a while. But he handled it well. There was an opening and we got our shot to go.”

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Moreira also rode the John Size trained Beat The Clock to victory in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint.

Beat The Clock settled off the speed seemingly missing the start. The boom John Moore trained three-year-old Aethero crossed the field and took up the running. As the runners got into the final 100 metres of the race Beat The Clock peeled and got a break and stormed to the lead.

This win was memorable as it was Beat The Clock’s third successive win in the race. The other statistic that must be noted here is that in 23 starts he has never run outside of the top three – a fantastic record!

“When the gates opened, he was not where I wanted him to be but I knew I was coming to win a furlong out. This was really memorable for me as some people were doubting how good he was, but he showed them today and in fact I think there is more to come,” a buoyant Moreira said after the race.

His success did not stop there as the “Magic Man” Moreira rode three other winners on the program.

He claimed the opening race on Frankie Lor trained Triple Triple in a narrow victory and his extraordinary run of success continued with three successive wins in races 3, 4 and 5.

His win in race 3 on the program was aboard the John Size trained Beauty Applause owned in similar interests to Beauty Generation.

He capped off his splendid day in the saddle in race 9 aboard the Frankie Lor trained Fat Turtle.

Moreira certainly slayed the opposition today and reinforced in no uncertain terms that he is truly a world class jockey!

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