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Five for Moreira, four for Fownes at Happy Valley

12/10/2016

By David Morgan

Joao Moreira and Caspar Fownes formed a formidable axis at Happy Valley tonight, Wednesday, 12 October, pairing for four wins as Moreira swept to a rousing five-timer, four of those coming in the evening’s first four contests.

“When I came to the races I knew my rides were pretty good but I didn’t think it was going to be this good – taking home five is pretty special,” Moreira said. “The crowd here tonight really lifted me up as well.”

An expectant buzz reverberated around the Valley when the champion jockey swept race three to seal a hat-trick, taking the spoils aboard So Caffe for Fownes. And the crowd was sizzling one race later when the ‘Magic Man’ fired the same trainer’s Formula Galore – third-last turning for home – wide and late, to become the first horse in the last 59 to win from gate 12 on the Happy Valley B Course. The pièce de résistance came in the seventh, the Class 4 Ireland Trophy Handicap (1800m) as jockey and trainer combined again, this time with Speedy Wally.

“To get a result with Speedy Wally is really good because he really is a quirky horse,” Fownes said. “It’s good to get him going straight and putting in. He has a bit of ability, you could see that, but I’ve just got him concentrating a bit better now. Again, tonight, at the corner he looked like he was going to win and then he’s started thinking about it and Joao has had to really get after him to get his mind on it. At least I’ve got his head carriage right and he’s going straight.”

Fownes and Moreira had kicked off the night with success in the opening Class 5 Birch Handicap (1650m) as Winaswewish defied top-weight of 133lb to edge out Safari Magic by a head. Moreira made it a rapid double atop the Me Tsui-trained Forza Avanti in race two, the Class 5 Chinese Banyan Handicap (1200m).

Moreira’s five wins took his season’s tally to 18, seven clear of his nearest rival. But in the afterglow of his record-smashing exploits of the past two campaigns, and following a relatively slow start to the campaign by his own measure, is the champion feeling any added pressure this term?

“I think I felt more pressure last year because I had won my first premiership the season before and the expectation for me to win a second was very high, even higher than the first,” he said.

“Now I feel more relaxed with myself and I’m going with the flow. When I started the season I made a mistake in that when I came back from Japan – not that going to Japan was a mistake – I found that when I came to do my rides most of the rides were gone,” he revealed.

“The other jockeys realised they had to start working early as well. Of, say, 20 rides I called up and couldn’t get, I’d say 13 or 15 won and I wasn’t on them. I then had some bad luck in getting suspended at the second race meeting, which held me up a little bit, but things are going well now. You can’t look back and regret so now it’s all about looking forward and getting things right – I’ve got a lot of reasons to be happy!”

Fownes’ four-timer extended his lead at the top of the trainers’ premiership. Hong Kong’s three-time champion trainer now has 15 wins on the board, four ahead of his former assistant, Chris So.

“There’s a bit of pressure going into the night when people are saying ‘Oh, you’ve got Joao Moreira riding five,’ so I certainly came here hoping to win a couple of races,” Fownes said.

“I was confident of Winaswewish in race one and I felt So Caffe was flying; and Formula Galore was going to improve off his first run – up in class and down in weight – he’s a nice horse, he’s going to be all right this season, he handles both tracks and he’s a lot stronger now.”

With four from four in the bag midway through the eight-race card, Moreira’s streak was derailed in race five when Nitro Express took the Class 3 JCI Hong Kong Senate Cup Handicap (1650m). Chad Schofield gave the five-year-old a polished ride to claim a second win at start 13 and lift the first of the night’s two trophy races by two lengths.

“Chad gave us a lovely ride, he sat back on him,” winning trainer David Ferraris said. “He’s a really nice horse, he’s one of my better horses, and I couldn’t understand how he hadn’t won in Class 3 yet. There’s absolutely more left in him – Happy Valley 1650, it looks like he’s found his niche. We’ll give him a little break now – freshen him up.”

Ferraris doubled up in the last. Douglas Whyte steered Fantastic Feeling wide into the stretch and the five-year-old flew home from deep to capture the Class 3 Yew Handicap (1200m) by a head from the John Moore-trained Chevalier Star.

The So-trained Junzi landed race six, the Class 4 Poplar Handicap (1000m) under Neil Callan.

Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday, 16 October.

Joao Moreira scores his fourth win of the night atop Formula Galore in the Class 4 Palm Handicap.
Photo 1:
Joao Moreira scores his fourth win of the night atop Formula Galore in the Class 4 Palm Handicap.

Moreira later completes his winning five-timer �V his fourth for Caspar Fownes tonight �V with Speedy Wally in the Class 4 Ireland Trophy (Handicap).
Photo 2:
Moreira later completes his winning five-timer �V his fourth for Caspar Fownes tonight �V with Speedy Wally in the Class 4 Ireland Trophy (Handicap).

Chad Schofield steers Nitro Express to victory in the Class 3 JCI Hong Kong Senate Cup (Handicap).
Photo 3:
Chad Schofield steers Nitro Express to victory in the Class 3 JCI Hong Kong Senate Cup (Handicap).

 

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