Moreira gets Hong Kong nod at second shot
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Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira is set to weave his riding magic again in Hong Kong from April 7.
PHOTO: MICHAEL LEE
Michael Lee
Trainer Caspar Fownes’ perseverance in hiring Joao Moreira as his stable jockey has paid off the second time round.
The British handler was stunningly knocked back at his first application at the beginning of the current season in September 2025, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) citing a jockey’s room that was already full house.
But maybe the operative words in the Sports Road club’s statement were “not this year”.
Fownes, a four-time Hong Kong champion trainer who recently wrested the lead from second-season trainer Mark Newnham, took the cue he could have another bite at the cherry.
As surprising as the first “no” from one of the world’s leading racing jurisdictions to one of the world’s best jockeys was, the HKJC’s about-face in an announcement issued on Feb 23 is bound to send some ripples in the racing world, but clearly with more positive vibes, especially from the Brazilian star’s legion of fans.
Moreira’s licence runs from April 7 through the end of the 2025/26 racing season on July 15.
Fans will be thrilled to see the four-time Hong Kong champion jockey back on a longer term than his cameos since he left in 2022 due to chronic hip pain.
Fownes, 58, was clearly over the moon he has nailed it this time.
“Who wouldn’t be happy with a superstar like him coming for the rest of the season?” he told South China Morning Post. “It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be fun.”
It is not the first time Moreira, who is also a former four-time Singapore champion jockey, will be retained as a stable jockey in Hong Kong, though.
At the end of the 2017/18 season, Moreira left for Japan, but returned in December 2018 to ride as stable jockey to John Size.
Many thought that, after his Hong Kong exit, the “Magic Man”, as he is known, would switch to semi-retirement mode to restrict his riding to a farewell tour of countries like Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai and Brazil.
The wins did not dry up, though, and a much better hip courtesy of platelet-rich plasma therapy saw his time on the sidelines increasingly turn into longer stints, especially in Brazil.
Barring a relapse, it is odds-on the 42-year-old’s comeback will pave the way to full seasons to his favourite hunting ground.
That can only spell a mouth-watering renewal of hostilities with the jockey who has ruled Sha Tin and Happy Valley since his departure, arch-rival Zac Purton.
