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Hong Kong champion Joao Moreira will be a Brisbane carnival drawcard after reaching an agreement to ride for New Zealand’s powerful Te Akau stable.
Moreira will share feature race rides for the stable with Opie Bosson on the major days of the carnival with weights determining the allocation of mounts.
Te Akau trainers Steve Autridge and Jamie Richards are set to send a team of at least seven horses to Brisbane early next month.
“We have a very strong team that we are bringing over,” said Elis, who made his first mark on the Brisbane carnival when Darci Brahma won the TJ Smith (now the JJ Atkins) at Eagle Farm in 2005.
“We won the Oaks and a lot of other races in Brisbane over the years. We always come over for the Magic Millions sales each year, so it is nice to come over for the carnival now.“It’s always nice to come back to a place where you have had success.”
Fresh off their successful assault on the Sydney carnival with Rosehill Guineas winner Gingernuts, the team Autridge and Richards have set for Brisbane will be one of the biggest sent by a New Zealand stable to the winter carnival.Their team will be led by Karaka Million and G1 winner Melody Belle, who will be aimed at the JJ Atkins for two-year-olds.
Fellow G1 winners Hall Of Fame and Heroic Valour will target the Doomben 10,000 and Queensland Guineas respectively while Shocking Luck will be aimed at the Queensland Derby and Zambezi Warrior at the Brisbane Cup.
The team will also include exciting four-year-olds Splurge and Royal Success, a pair the stable believe are up to Stradbroke Handicap standard.Autridge and Richards have a team of 80 horses in work in NZ and lead the training premiership in terms of total stakes won and are second by total wins behind Tony Pike.
The Te Akau team are scheduled to arrive in Brisbane on May 4 and will be boxed at the new Eagle Farm stables.
