EIGHT OF 12 RIDERS CONFIRMED FOR INTERNATIONAL JOCKEYS CHALLENGE

Joao “Magic” Moreira has passed up his ride on Singapore champion Super Easy’s Hong Kong debut to participate in the 2012 Avis Coach Charter Jockeys' International to be held later this month.





Moreira, hungry for experience, is keen to ride in as many of the supporting events as possible and says he does not want to be restricted to the Challenge races only.





He will be part of a six-member international contingent taking on a South African team at Turffontein on November 16 and in KwaZulu-Natal on November 18 in the annual challenge.





Trainer Michael Freedman, who trains Super Easy, will now have to find a Hong Kong-based jockey to ride the colt when he is given a crucial test around a right-hand bend in the Jockey Club Sprint in just under three weeks.



Moreira rode Super Easy in his first 12 starts in Singapore, all wins - but all around Kranji's anti-clockwise circuit - and when the horse was runner-up last start in the Kranji Mile.



"It is through no fault of Joao that he is unable to make the trip. He had already made that commitment," Freedman said.



The 28-year-old has ruled the roost virtually from the beginning of his stint in Singapore in 2009 and is en-route to another jockeys’ premiership there after taking the title in 2010 and 2011. The light-weight rider wrapped up last season with 116 wins and has notched a record 186 wins for the current season. Last weekend at Kranji he visited the winner’s enclosure 11 times, five times on Friday and a further four on the Sunday.



The Brazilian-born rider, who has been licensed since 2000, has already won more than 1000 races, most in the Sao Paulo area, before applying for a riding license in Singapore. His international experience also includes rides in Argentina, Australia, Dubai, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Macau, Sweden and Uruguay. His big-race wins this year in Singapore are the Singapore Guineas (G1) on Super Easy and the Singapore Derby (G1) on Chase Me, while he also landed the Listed Zawawi Cup in Sweden aboard Verde Mar.