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Hong Kong’s champion jockey Joao Moreira took Japan by storm this weekend with seven wins from 20 rides across two days at Sapporo Racecourse.
He capped his visit with victory in the competition that had taken him there, the JRA’s World All-Star Jockeys challenge.
That two-day, four-race, international competition drew elite riders from across the globe and Moreira, having held the half-way lead at close of day on Saturday (29 August) with 35 points, thanks to a win and a second place, notched another 20 points from a further win on Sunday (30 August), which sealed the title.
That decisive success came in the series’ third leg when the Brazilian steered the three-year-old colt Bravissimo to a narrow victory in the 1200m turf event. JRA jockey Yutake Take finished second atop Fair Raffine, and, with a score of 40 points at that stage, the Japanese riding legend was the only jockey within range of catching Moreira ahead of the fourth and final leg.
Moreira finished down the field in 11th on Quetzalcoatl in that concluding race, an 1800m turf event won by Hayley Turner’s mount, Win Phoenix. Take, meanwhile, could manage only fifth on Ti Amo as Moreira secured the title with a final score of 56 points, six more than second-placed Take. Another JRA jockey, Keita Tosaki, was third with 30 points.
In the team competition, a component introduced this year for the first time, Team JRA’s 187 points ensured the host contingent got the better of Team World All-Stars by two points.
Moreira, who notched three wins in all at Sapporo on Saturday, was again in scintillating form today. He won three races on the card prior to his World-All-Star Jockeys 3rd leg triumph and so ended the day with a four-timer.
He opened his account in Race 5 atop La Cime in a two-year-old weight for age event (1200m, turf), then in the next, a three-year-old maiden (1500m, turf), he doubled his tally on Miss Erika. Moreira made it a treble in Race 8 thanks to Albert in a 2000m turf event and then completed the quartet with Bravissimo.
Moreira’s triumphant weekend signaled that the rider is primed and hungry for more success ahead of the Hong Kong season opener on Sunday, 9 September.
