Joao Moreira hands in Hong Kong licence prior to global retirement tour

Joao Moreira, a four-time champion jockey and a winner of 1,234 races in Hong Kong, has handed in his Hong Kong 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 on September 21 and has been recovering back in his native Brazil since undergoing Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy on his left hip.

Moreira set up a final-day 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 a four-timer 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 to the South China Morning Post: "I appreciate everything Hong Kong has done for me, and I’m not leaving with any bad feelings in mind.

"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 will return to Hong Kong to ride at Sha Tin on December 11 but will also ride in Europe, Japan and Australia in 2023 before retiring on medical advice.

Moreira said: "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."

Read this next:

'A huge mistake' - Marco Ghiani banned for six months for cocaine positive

Subscribe to Members' Club Ultimate using code BLACK22 and pay just £10 per month for your first three months*.

To take advantage of this special offer:

• Head to the checkout
• Select Get Ultimate monthly
• Enter the code BLACK22

First three months will be charged at £10 per month, subscription renews at full monthly price thereafter.

Customers wishing to cancel will need to contact us at least seven days before their subscription is due to renew. Offer expires 25/11/22.