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Moreira closes in on another milestone

Darryl Sherer - Sunday September 17

Joao Moreira is one short of another milestone after riding five winners at Sha Tin on Saturday.

Joao Moreira. Photo: Darryl Sherer

Wins aboard Diamond Friends, Gran Master, Diamond Mysterious, Premiere and Top Beautiful takes Moreira to 599 wins in Hong Kong.

Top Beautiful started the shortest priced favourite of the day and took all of Moreira's skill to get there in the last stride of the Class Three handicap over the straight 1000m.

Moreira told the South China Morning Post he feels the Chris So-trained Top Beautiful, a four-year-old son of Nicconi, can improve over further.

"As soon as I got off the horse today I said to Chris that he'll be thinking about stepping this horse up in distance very soon and I would say don't hesitate," Moreira said.

"I was not worried about him going up to Class Three because we have a big opinion of him. But it was only his second race, he was meeting some much more experienced horses and specialists over the straight 1,000m.

"I think I rode one of Chris' best horses today and although he isn't there yet, in the future this could be one of the highest-rated horses he has trained."

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