Hong Kong racing will have another world class rider in the jockeys’ room from next week when Brazilian ace Joao Moreira picks up his licence, and the Singapore champion received a warm reception when he met gathered media at Sha Tin.

Moreira is slated to have his first rides as a Hong Kong Jockey Club licensed jockey at the Happy Valley day meeting on Sunday, 20 October. 

“It’s such a pleasure to be here,” he said. “Coming here is not about money, it’s about the challenge, I think this place will really make me improve again as a jockey – how much, I don’t know but I hope a lot. Hong Kong is a tough place but I feel that now the time is right.”

Moreira, 30, is already familiar to Hong Kong racegoers and wowed race fans with victory in last December’s LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley. His eight wins from as many rides in Singapore recently – the second eight-timer of his career – also caught the racing world’s imagination, but he is circumspect about the task ahead.

“My main goal is to come here and ride winners, and I don’t really have any numbers on my mind,” he said. “I think that’s the way it should be because if I set targets and they don’t go my way, I personally would be very upset with myself.

“What I can say is I have a very good feeling about this place – people are very keen on using me. I may not be as good as people think I am but I’m the kind of guy that will improve – everywhere I go I change myself to adapt to the place. I’ve been here before and I’ve been lucky a few times.”

Moreira revealed that he recalls the first time he sat on a horse, aged only three, and the affinity he has always felt to horses. That connection led him to childhood escapades riding bareback in his native Brazil from the age of 10 and after several knockbacks to his ambitions he finally secured a dream position at the Sao Paulo Jockey Academy a few years later. 

“I came from riding like a cowboy – riding bareback gives great balance, so I have good balance – so to come from that place, it’s great to be here,” he said.

With 1000 wins in his homeland, four jockey championships, two Brazilian Eclipse Awards and eight G1 wins under his belt before his relocation to Singapore in 2009, Moreira has already garnered plenty of publicity in Hong Kong. And with four consecutive Singapore titles in the bag thanks to 645 total wins (to date), the rider known as “The Magic Man” has dominated racing in the Lion City in recent times.

Moreira is naturally facing high expectations from Hong Kong race fans, media and horsemen, with some talk already of him being the man to end Douglas Whyte’s 13-year reign as champion jockey.

“It’s a pressure but I’m not thinking about that – that’s not what I’ve set out in my mind,” he said. “I respect Douglas Whyte, he’s champion jockey. I’m thinking to go step by step – firstly studying, getting rides, getting winners and getting to know lots of people.

“It would be amazing if I could do it but I’m not going to have to just beat Douglas Whyte, I’m going to be riding against many good jockeys. One of the main reasons I’m here is to improve, I came here to improve a bit more. If you set those kinds of things in your mind you’ll be very disappointed if they don’t happen – I just go with the flow and if I’m successful I will be very happy.

“As a very young person I’d have found it harder to come here,” he added. “It will still be hard but I have more confidence in myself with the things I’ve achieved. I respect all the jockeys here – if they’re here it means they’re good because the Club only goes after the good ones.”

Moreira has ridden in no less than 16 countries in his career and his G1 wins include those aboard South American champion EU Tambem and Singapore star Super Easy. The rider’s overall profile is just what the HKJC’s Licencing Committee looks for in an overseas rider, and Moreira has the added bonus of riding light at 114lbs.

“Joao Moreira has been on our radar for quite some time,” said William A. Nader, the Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing. “He’s impressed all of us at the Jockey Club with his great success in Singapore but more than that, we’ve done our homework and we know he’s a quality individual, a class act, and that’s very important to us in Hong Kong. It’s not just about the talent of the individual but also the character of the individual – certainly he has both. He’s a great addition not only to Hong Kong racing but also as someone to represent Hong Kong as an individual with class and style.

“With everything he’s accomplished in his career, the time seems right for him and the time’s right for us – it’s a great match. The jockey colony right now is in very good shape and his addition here is going to make things very interesting. We consider Hong Kong racing to be world class racing and he’s a world class rider.”