Moreira closes in on another milestone

Darryl Sherer - Sunday Sep 17

Joao Moreira is one short of another milestone after riding five winners at Sha Tin on Saturday.

Advertisement
Joao Moreira. Photo: Darryl Sherer

Wins aboard Diamond Friends, Gran Master, Diamond Mysterious, Premiere and Top Beautiful takes Moreira to 599 wins in Hong Kong.

Top Beautiful started the shortest priced favourite of the day and took all of Moreira's skill to get there in the last stride of the Class Three handicap over the straight 1000m.

Moreira told the South China Morning Post he feels the Chris So-trained Top Beautiful, a four-year-old son of Nicconi, can improve over further.

"As soon as I got off the horse today I said to Chris that he'll be thinking about stepping this horse up in distance very soon and I would say don't hesitate," Moreira said.

"I was not worried about him going up to Class Three because we have a big opinion of him. But it was only his second race, he was meeting some much more experienced horses and specialists over the straight 1,000m.

"I think I rode one of Chris' best horses today and although he isn't there yet, in the future this could be one of the highest-rated horses he has trained."

Advertisment
More Reading...
Racing Industry Mourns Much Loved Izzy Neale
The thoroughbred racing industry is devastated tonight following news that apprentice jockey Izzy Neale, aged 22, has tragically died as the result of a race fall at Warren on Sunday.
2027 Golden Slipper Entries – Sortable Sale Mail – Find Out More
The new season is nearly upon us and that means all over the country a new crop of rising two year-olds are taking baby steps in the best stables in the land with the Australian Turf Club announcing this week they had received 1881 entries for the 2027 Golden Slipper, so who is in the race?
Remembering Sunline – The Queen of the Cox Plate Before Winx
From our vantage point in 2026, we can look back at modern Cox Plate history and marvel at how quickly the years are passing.
Southern Highlands Thoroughbred Week is Out of the Gate!
Celebrating 140 years of racing and thoroughbred culture, Southern Highlands Thoroughbred Week presented by GROW Southern Highlands will span three weekends, from 19th November to 6th December.
Haras d'Etreham Set Fee for Hotazhell
Triple Group I winner Hotazhell will begin his stallion career at Haras d'Etreham in France at a fee of €15,000 next year before then shuttling to Widden Stud in Australia.
Darley Announce 2027 European Fees -Night of Thunder Soars to €450,000
It will be Dubawi central at Darley in 2027 with the legendary 24YO sire priced at £350,000, but the roster is topped by his champion son Night of Thunder at €450,000 and there are three more G1 winning sons or grand-sons of Dubawi also added to a power packed roster.
Unraced First Season Sires Trial Report
It’s been a pretty steady start to spring in terms of 2YO races and we are still waiting to see a first season sire post a winner, but there has been action aplenty at the trials which would indicate the pre-Christmas period is set to ignite.
G1 Aussie Pedigree Watch –Newly Minted
Pedigree does matter if you want to be winning races longer than 1200m, although in an interesting twist a colt bred on face value for speed is in fact from the family of Zabeel.
Frankel Heads Juddmonte Euro Roster at £350,000
Fresh from siring outstanding young stayer Point of Law (GB) to win the $10m Group I VRC Melbourne Cup, champion sire Frankel will again top the roster at Banstead Manor Stud for Juddmonte.
One to Watch – Mornington
A homebred for Seymour Bloodstock with an intriguing pedigree opened her account with a stylish win at Mornington on Tuesday.