Brazilian rider Joao Moreira leaves nothing to chance as he drives Flagship Shine to the line to win the Panasonic Cup at Sha Tin yesterday.
Brilliant Brazilian Joao Moreira was handing out the compliments to John Moore-trained four-year-old Flagship Shine after an emphatic win in the Panasonic Cup at Sha Tin and the trainer responded by granting the jockey his wish to stay aboard the horse in the future.
Moreira has been the pilot in recent meetings as the Moore-trained Sterling City and straight course tornado Amber Sky have produced impressive wins but he was happy to declare Flagship Shine the best yet.
"I want to say this is a very nice horse - actually, this is the best horse I have ridden since I came to Hong Kong," said Moreira in the aftermath of the victory with top weight in the day's 1,400m feature.
"To do what he did with 132 pounds on his back, that was really impressive. I know that Douglas Whyte has been riding this horse and he would probably have ridden him today as well, if he was not suspended, but I would like to sit down and talk with John Moore because I would love to stay on the horse if I can."
It was delicious praise for the Tale Of the Cat gelding, given that Moreira's win on Sterling City in a Group race two weeks ago seems certain to make that horse one of the horses to beat in a dress rehearsal for the local Hong Kong Sprint horses next weekend.
Like most of the winners yesterday, Flagship Shine sat wide on the track and the bias conditions negated what Moore said was his biggest fear before the race, the gelding's wide draw. With that obstacle non-existent, Flagship Shine rounded up his rivals and swept clear before holding the late charge of Noble Alpha.
"I think Joao can stay on him - that suits me better because I know Douglas already has Derby horses lined up for Ricky Yiu and Danny Shum and I just don't want a situation where we have a conflict and don't know if our jockey will be available or not," Moore said. "I know that Joao will ride him the whole way through so we know what we're doing."
Moore said Flagship Shine had promised at three that he was going to be a horse to be reckoned with in at least the first of the four-year-old Group Ones and his success yesterday confirmed his place amongst a strong Moore team for the age group.
"He's a push-button horse and I expected that he would go on this season. He's a star in the making and will be right there for all the good four-year-old races," he said.
"He'll run again on international day in the 1,400m Class One then his real target is the Classic Mile against his own age group in January. Joao said he jumped well then relaxed and came off the bit then responded when he asked him and quickened up like a really good horse. And when it got serious in the straight, he dug in. Joao says there will be no problem with him getting the 1,600m in the Classic Mile. After that, I don't know but if we can we'll try to squeeze him out to 2,000m and get him to the Derby."
Moore also filled two of the minor placings, with Flash Knight (third) and Majestic Falcon (fourth), while any expectations that Caspar Fownes' newest high profile Derby import Vanilla would play a role looked forlorn even before the race.
The colt was very fresh and stirred up in the parade yard before having to be walked out riderless to the racetrack. He ran out of condition in the final 200m and finished ninth.
