Moreira stars at Sha Tin with Panasonic Cup win

Racing Supernova
Racing Supernova takes out the Class 1 Panasonic Cup. One of five winners for Joao Moreira

CHAMPION jockey Joao Moreira was at his very best at Sha Tin on Saturday, riding five winners and three close-up seconds.

The highlight win of the night came with Racing Supernova in the Class 1 Panasonic Cup which gave trainer Chris So his first class one winner.

Racing Supernova was paying $5 at Bet365.com and the opposition was tough with the likes of Mr Bogart (second) and Blizzard (third) entered for bigger races next month, but Moreira was able to get the best out of it late.

“It’s proven now, 1400m is no problem!” Moreira said. “He travelled well through the run, although he still does a few things wrong. He doesn’t really ping out of the gate, but today, that probably worked out good for him because he was able to get to the fence, save ground, and there was plenty of room for him to be able to improve through.

“At the finish, I was full of horse underneath me, he just didn’t let us down. He’s a lovely horse going forward, and it was a great job from Chris preparing him for this race.”

So was delighted with the win and he wasn’t afraid of stepping the son of Duporth over longer distances.

“I really wanted to win but I knew it was a tough race. Blizzard is a Group horse and Mr Bogart had good form,” So said. “I thought if my horse could finish near them, it would be a great effort. But to win… I’m so excited for the owners and I hope there is more to come.

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“A lot of people wanted me to keep him to the 1000m, but every time he raced down the straight he seemed to find a lot of trouble. He didn’t have room, he’d only get clear late, and it was becoming tough.

“Every time he’d run over the 1200m, he’d run well, and so I knew the bend was no concern – if anything, he looked like he needed further and he wouldn’t hit top gear until the race was over. I thought the tempo over 1400m might even be better if he could sprint like he did over shorter trips.”

Australian jockey Zac Purton had ridden Racing Supernova at its two previous starts this campaign, but weight was the determining factor to engage Moreira.

“I would have liked Zac to ride but I knew there was a possibility the horse could get 116 pounds in this race so I approached Joao,” So said. “I knew Joao could make the weight and so Zac knew after last start that he would have to give up the ride here. Otherwise, he would have been on, he;s won on the horse twice, so I feel a bit sorry for Zac.”

A run in the 2016 Hong Kong Mile is still a possibility for Racing Supernova, but So believes it might be better suited to next year’s International meeting.

“We’ll just wait and see, the owners are thinking about whether to enter for the Hong Kong Mile but it might come up too soon,” So said.

“The class one over 1400 metres on International day is always a nice race and he should still get in with a nice weight, so I think we’ll probably head there and then maybe we can look at the Group three over 1400 metres in January.

“I think 1400 metres is his distance anyway, for now at least. In time, we can try the mile, but he looks to have plenty of promise over this trip. As it is, I didn’t enter him for the internationals the first time around because I thought it would be too soon and I didn’t think the races would suit him, not yet. There’s plenty of time for that.”

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