Champion Jockey four times having ridden 1,234 winners in Hong Kong, Joao Moreira has handed in his licence prior to his likely retirement due to a hip injury. Moreira, 39, has not ridden in Hong Kong since a meeting at Happy Valley in the middle of September and has been recovering back in his native Brazil since undergoing plateletrich plasma therapy on his left hip.
Moreira set up a thrilling showdown with Zac Purton in the jockeys' championship earlier this year with the pair tied on 132 winners apiece heading into the final meeting at Sha Tin in July. Purton edged out Moreira with four victories to win his fifth title.
The gruelling title race combined with the strict lockdowns imposed in Hong Kong as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic also played a part in Moreira's decision to relinquish his licence. The jockey, whose family moved back to Brazil a month before the jockeys' championship concluded, said: "I appreciate everything Hong Kong has done for me.
Overall, Hong Kong has contributed to my life so positively but I’m dealing with some physical and personal problems. Unfortunately, some changes had to be made and that includes me not being based in Hong Kong anymore."
Moreira, often dubbed ‘Magic Man’ will return to Hong Kong to compete at Sha Tin’s big international meeting on Sunday week but will also ride in Europe, Japan and Australia in 2023 before retiring on medical advice. Moreira explained: "It's a very tough call to retire right away so I intend to ride for a very short stint, maybe a few months, maybe six months.
I want to be travelling a little bit around the world, something Hong Kong wasn't allowing me to do. If I go back there and finish the season, and then I want to travel around the world and ride in different places, that means I'd have to ride for another year. I'm not sure I want to do that because the pain I've been going through is too great."
