Fownes eyes fifth title, throws weight behind full-time Moreira move

Caspar Fownes is within touching distance of a fifth trainers' championship – and he is using the moment to lobby the Club to bring his gun-for-hire jockey João Moreira back to Hong Kong on a full-time basis.

The Magic Man led all the way aboard Class 5 horse Verbier at Sha Tin on Saturday, the latest edge Moreira has handed Fownes since arriving as the stable's retained rider in April. He had also snatched a short-head win at Happy Valley on Wednesday night that could prove vital in what has been a gripping championship battle. 

Fownes finished Saturday with 65 winners, five clear of second-placed Danny Shum Chap-shing and six ahead of Mark Newnham, both of whom also had winners on the card. With five meetings left in the season – two of them at Fownes' beloved Happy Valley, including the Season Finale on July 15 – the veteran trainer can sniff another title.

Moreira's role has been integral, made more so by the fact that runaway jockeys' championship leader Zac Purton does not ride for the stable. And it is Purton's stranglehold that Fownes wants broken.

The Australian sits on 134 winners, more than double second-placed Andrea Atzeni on 60 – a level of dominance Fownes believes has let the competition go stale.

"He's a superstar, Joao. He's been a pleasure to have riding for me these last couple of months. He should be here full-time in Hong Kong. He's what Hong Kong needs," Fownes said. "He's just a breath of fresh air, a great jockey, and we need some more competition in Hong Kong, so hopefully we can get him back here."
 

Purton and Moreira fought out one of the sport's great rivalries after the Brazilian arrived early in the 2013-14 season, Purton outpointing him five titles to four across nine seasons before Moreira departed citing injury and illness at the start of 2022-23. Purton will this season stretch his streak to five straight and a total of nine championships.

As special as this campaign is for Fownes, he believes Moreira on a full-time basis would offer something the city's sport now lacks.

"He's the only one who can actually give Zac a fight. Nobody else can. End of story," Fownes said. "And the fans love him. He's so approachable and so humble, and handles everything the right way. We need that here. We need someone to challenge Zac. He's just got such a stranglehold on the game and it's not healthy. You need competition – in the training ranks, and you most certainly need it in the jockey ranks.

"People have become happy to just ride 30 winners or whatever it is. You want to be there and say, you know what? I'm going to knock you off your perch. That's what you need, and he'd be the man to do it."

Fownes was relieved Verbier even made the gate, the gelding having been cast in his box beforehand. "We were a little bit lucky. He got cast in the box, and it could've gone all wrong. Normally when they get stuck, they can do themselves some damage."

The trainer is not banking on his buffer at the top of the standings just yet. "There's still a lot of racing left, but I've still got a lot of winners left in the camp, which I've kept for the last few meetings,” he said. “I've still got quite a few bullets left, so if they come at me hard, it's going to be an exciting last few meetings."

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