"Magic Man" Joao Moreira channels rugby winger in stunning Happy Valley Win aboard Family Fortune.

Joao Moreira sidestepped, swerved and burst through the line at Happy Valley last night, threading Family Fortune through a needle-eye gap to snatch victory in a finish that would have done any Sevens winger proud.

On a card where racing and rugby shared the same neighborhood for the first time – the Jockey Club rebranding the Fan Zone as the "Shout Stand" and the Beer Garden packed with international visitors in town for Sevens week – it was fitting that the night's standout ride looked like it had been lifted straight from Kai Tak Stadium.

Moreira's run on the Class 5 galloper in the second race had the hallmarks of a scrum-half scything through gaps among tiring forwards, given Family Fortune's relatively diminutive size and the way he squeezed through traffic in the closing stages.

The Magic Man had just three runners behind him on turning for home and charted a fearless passage through the chasing pack, taking a particularly tight passage late to nab Double Bingo on the line.

Family Fortune had won just one from 21 and had been unplaced in his last four starts heading into Wednesday – and the gelding's only previous victory had also come with Moreira aboard, at the International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) meeting in December.

"What a great ride – I really enjoyed that, and I enjoyed it even more watching it on replay," winning trainer Caspar Fownes told The Standard. "And for a Class 5, it had me pumped up. He is a star."

"He broke his maiden with Joao on him before, and he has done it again – that was magic," the trainer's son and stable assistant Ronan added. "He is only a small horse, and if he was any bigger he would not have got through that gap, but he rode him cool, calm and collected. He squeezed through and got there late."

It capped a flying start to Moreira's stint as the Fownes yard's retained rider, the Brazilian having opened his account last Wednesday with a four-timer that had the Happy Valley crowd in raptures.

Ronan offered some insight into the working relationship with the Magic Man, suggesting the rider needs little in the way of direction.

"He does his homework. Sometimes we might see something that others might not, like a track bias, but we don't really give him instructions – just some words of encouragement and support," he said. "He tends to get them up anyway, so there isn't much you need to tell him."