Caspar Fownes said it won’t take long for Hong Kong to remember exactly what Joao Moreira can do for raceday atmosphere.
“Finally. We finally got our man back – it will be good fun,” Fownes said after the Hong Kong Jockey Club confirmed Moreira would be Fownes’ stable rider from April 7 through to the end of the 2025/26 season in mid-July.
Moreira returned to ride at the International Jockeys’ Championship in December and received a rapturous reception from the fans that surrounded the parade ring, the champion jockey landing the first two winners of the evening – both for Fownes – to send the crowd into hysterics.
“The fans love him and they are going to go nuts – I will make sure I fire up a few on the first night that he rides so he gets a strong start,” Fownes said.
Confirmation of Moreira’s late season cameo completes a chase that began months earlier, when Fownes tried to bring Moreira back in the lead-up to the Hong Kong International Races in December – only to be knocked back by officials who told him the roster was already set.
Fownes leads the trainers’ championship standings with 36 wins just past the midpoint of the season – one ahead of Mark Newnham – and the late-season arrival of a four-time Hong Kong champion rider could be framed as a title play. Fownes rejected that notion, even if he conceded the timing is nicely aligned.
“That isn’t why we got him here but the timing is great and it will be beneficial. I have wanted to get Joao here before, the timing wasn’t right – but now the opportunity arose and I am happy with that. We all are,” he said.
Fownes said the arrangement was great for Hong Kong racing overall – the Brazilian’s rivalry with dominant championship leader Zac Purton adds another aspect to what now shapes as a more exciting summer period.
“Most important is for the fans and that they can enjoy racing – I think the racing has just lacked a little bit of spunk,” Fownes said. “Joao delivers, he rides well and gets the job done – and his character is so lovely, he is great to have around.”
Stable jockey arrangements in Hong Kong are built around heavy support for the retaining stable, but Fownes made it clear he won’t try to lock Moreira away from every attractive opportunity – provided the stable’s core needs are met.
“Basically, he has to ride 85% for the stable – but he doesn’t have to ride if we put our apprentice Ellis Wong on a horse in the race,” he said. “But I just want him on my horses, to ride for me, but if he has some good outside rides we will allow him to take them – some other trainers had already mentioned they would like to use him and I am sure the phone will be ringing.”
One interesting aspect is that Moreira is no longer considered a “lightweight” rider, a shift that should leave opportunities for Wong – who has 18 wins and sits 10th in the jockeys’ championship – to keep building his season in the lighter-weight races.
From Fownes’ end there are practical obligations, too – including accommodation – and the trainer told Idol Horse that “everything is sorted.”
Moreira took Hong Kong racing by storm in 2013 and won four championships, breaking many riding records through to a dramatic departure in 2018 – albeit an aborted one. That year he explored a breakaway move to Japan, only for the plan to stall when he couldn’t secure a full-time JRA licence. He returned to Hong Kong as stable rider for John Size in 2018-19 and remained in the city through to 2022.
By then, Moreira’s body and mind were telling the same story: the grind was no longer sustainable. He cited debilitating left hip pain, a long rehabilitation process and mental stress linked to being away from his family in Brazil – a mix that ultimately led him to step away from his Hong Kong licence.
In the months after leaving, the “retirement” label softened into something more fluid. Based back in his home city of Curitiba, he rebuilt his physical base after treatment and began operating as what he effectively is now: a global big-race specialist – flying in for high-end opportunities, often on short-term licences.
It is the first time Fownes has had a stable jockey since late in the 2003/04 season, when Australian heavyweight Patrick Payne rode as retained rider for the then-rookie Hong Kong trainer. ∎
