The heavens opened in Rio de Janeiro and heaven was where Joao Moreira’s thoughts were when he pulled Obataye to a walk after a sensational win in South America’s biggest race on Saturday. The Brazilian ace lay across the neck of the horse he first spotted as a yearling, then looked skywards and raised his arm in an emotional salute to his wife Taciana’s late father.
“We went through the bottom of sadness to the top of happiness within a week. It was tough,” he told Idol Horse, explaining that his father-in-law, Joseph Alves, had passed away just eight days earlier.
It was Moreira’s first win in the Gran Premio Latinoamericano, the race that moves around the continent year on year, and he had achieved it at Gavea racecourse, sheltered beneath Corcovado Mountain from which the iconic Christ the Redeemer – Cristus Redentor – statue looks down.
“My voice is gone,” Moreira continued via phone from Rio after a night of celebration. “You could make a movie of what happened.
“It’s the biggest race in South America and it’s an international race and every year it is held in a different country and we were able to get involved with the right horse.
“I have probably won more famous races but it’s a very meaningful race for me, I’d never had a chance to ride in it. I hadn’t ridden that long in Brazil before I moved to Asia, but I was a leading rider here and I had still never even had a ride, let alone a chance.”
Moreira and Obataye – owned by his primary retainer Haras Rio Iguassu – have a strong bond and that’s not just because of the past victories the pair had enjoyed, including another emotional win in the 2024 G1 Grande Premio Brasil at Gavea and in August the G1 Grande Premio Mattias Machline in Sao Paulo.
“What gave it so much meaning to me is the behind-the-scenes story,” he said. “What happened in the lead-up and my personal connection with the horse.
“When I recommended him to my brother he was just a yearling – he only paid US$12,000 for him. We needed to find a new place to raise him, but a friend of mine, a very traditional and old-school owner, Jose Feitosa, he raised Obataye and then sent him to me.
“After that he shut everything and sold-up – he finished everything and this was his final act, the last horse to step out of his farm.”
When Obataye left Feitosa’s Haras Palmerine he went to Moreira’s brother Jair’s stable to continue his development before entering training with Antonio Oldoni.
“The stable where my brother has horses, a few people I know took over his education and I could feel right away that he was good,” Moreira recalled. “But even I didn’t know how good. But he had been underestimated all along – nobody has ever thought he was this good.”
To ensure his place in the Gran Premio Latinoamericano as one of Brazil’s four representatives, Obataye needed to win the Sao Paulo race last time, but after arriving there from Moreira’s hometown of Curitiba, the five-year-old hit a snag.
“Fifteen days before (the Sao Paulo race) we couldn’t race him and get proper work into him because of some problems with his feet,” Moreira said. “I thought he’d be scratched. It was that build-up that showed he was a horse that can overcome adversity and problems.
“Given that build-up, it made me more confident this time because he came into work for this race and he had five or six weeks: he has been flying, so we had confidence. But these horses he raced against, we weren’t sure because they come from all over (South America). But they had to come and race in our backyard so I was confident we would be competitive.
“But sometimes if it’s meant to be; it’s meant to be.”
The rain certainly helped a horse that was proven on wet ground and hindered those rivals that were not, including Brazil’s top filly Ethereum. The Gran Premio Latinoamericano was run in a Rio downpour.
“Just before the race the rain started coming down,” Moreira said. “It changed the race, it pushed the riders around in terms of tactics – people wanted to be closer in the run – and it put some pace into the race, which suited us.
“Also, he is so big and sometimes it is tricky for him to get out of the gates, but he pinged out and got into the right spot, then late I got the right run and angled out with 300 metres to go.
“The way things happened in the last month made the race feel very special and the win emotional.”
🇧🇷 G1・ラテンアメリカ大賞を地元ブラジル代表のオバタイェで制し、感極まるジョアン・モレイラ騎手。#競馬 #海外競馬 | 🎥: @WorldPool pic.twitter.com/tdulgknZCt
— Idol Horse (@idolhorsedotcom) October 19, 2025
Where Obataye goes next is not certain but Moreira is confident the son of Courtier has a future at stud. The entire’s Juddmonte-bred sire was Grade 2-placed in the United States and is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Emollient from a top-class Niarchos Family bloodline featuring Obataye’s fourth dam, the dual Group 1 winner Coup De Genie.
“Obataye is going to be a nice stallion, he has a nice pedigree,” Moreira said. “He hasn’t got too many options (to race) there’s a big race in Argentina but it’s 2400 metres and his best race distance is 2000 metres and the quarantine process is quite complicated.”
Moreira’s brother retained a minor share when the horse was sold to the Pelanda family’s Haras Rio Iguassu operation and that close relationship with the family has only increased the sense of connection with Obataye and the special nature of the Gran Premio Latinoamericano victory.
“We came to an agreement (with the owner), he took over the yard in Curitiba and retained me as a jockey,” Moreira explained. “Being such a good owner and person, he looked after me and my brother – he gave us the feeling like we should be his partner.
“The meaning of this win is all about the connection with the horse,” he added. “In ten years time I’m sure this race could be near the top of my achievements.” ∎
