Joao Moreira said it felt “like a dream” to ride his 1,235th Hong Kong winner four and a half months after what the four-time champion jockey thought had been his final competitive appearance in the city.

Moreira, who relinquished his Jockey Club licence in November and still had not ridden a winner in the city this season after fulfilling seven fruitless assignments on international day in December, was triumphant in the first event on FWD Champions Day.

Caspar Fownes, who had supplied Moreira’s previous Hong Kong winner – Sugar Sugar at Happy Valley on July 13 – booked the Brazilian rider to partner Packing Hurricane in the Class Four FWD Insurance Goahead Group Handicap (2,000m) and the British import held on to beat Reach Goal by a neck.

“Caspar has been a great friend and supporter, so when he rang to give me this ride, I didn’t hesitate, and I took it with much pleasure,” Moreira said.

“Of course, a few things went [Packing Hurricane’s] way. Having an outside gate, I was able to bounce him out and put him in a prominent position. Then as the race started building up from the 900m, I dug him up, and he responded very nicely to put himself into the race, like he was always going to be in the finish.

“I probably got to the front a little bit too early, but he seemed like a very fit horse, and he was always going to make it hard for his opponents.

“Being back in Hong Kong and winning races, it’s like a dream. When I left in December, I thought that was probably the last time I’d ride here, which felt horrible. I’d been hoping that some opportunity in the future would come. It’s here, and I’m talking to you after winning a race. It’s special.”

Performing and punting huge hits

Nearly 50,000 people attended Champions Day and most of them were on course long before Magic Man Moreira conjured a win out of Packing Hurricane.

The Jockey Club’s pre-racing entertainment of singers Kelly Chen and Anson Lo, the Mirror band member who is also enjoying chart success as a solo performer, was a huge hit, with some fans queuing overnight to secure the best vantage spots in the parade ring.

Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges was delighted with how one of Sha Tin’s major days played out, both operationally and financially.

“It was definitely a challenging situation to bring a different crowd in for Anson Lo. How we collaborated with the fan club – I want to thank the fan club, who were extremely collaborative – and the switch over between those who were first coming for Anson and then for the races, I think, was masterfully managed,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

“What we saw was absolutely world-class racing, and there were absolutely outstanding performances from really great champions of the turf.

“Turnover, we were a little bit down in relation to last year, but last year we had 11 races, so if you look at the race-by-race comparison, we’re up by eight per cent, which is a fantastic result.”

Beauty and the beast

The two Beauty-prefixed gallopers whom Zac Purton rode on Champions Day experienced wildly contrasting fortunes – Beauty Eternal returned to the winner’s circle, but Beauty Destiny may take a while to be in a winning photograph unless he improves his attitude.

Beauty Eternal bounced back from his Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) defeat – he finished third in this season’s edition of the city’s most prestigious race as its $2.3 favourite – with victory in the Class Two FWD Insurance CMB Wing Lung Bank Handicap (1,400m).

Purton was full of admiration for Beauty Eternal after the $2.25 market leader beat Circuit Stellar by a short head, with Derby runner-up Tuchel in third.

“[Beauty Eternal] had such a hard preparation to get to the Derby – stepping from 1,200m to 1,400m to 1,600m and then 2,000m. We came up just short. It was a great effort to get him there and a great effort to get him to run as well as he did,” Purton said.

“We had to come back to 1,400m, so he just lacked that little bit of turn of foot I’ve got accustomed to feeling. He was still able to get the job done, and the strongest part of his race was the last bit.

“It’s still hard to tell [what’s his best trip]. He’s been jumping distances. We haven’t been able to get him into the groove. Let’s hope he’s a good miler.”

Purton says ‘the sky’s the limit’ for Sweynesse after Speed Series clean sweep

The odds-on favourites did not let down their fans in the Champions Day features, but the red-hot chances on the undercard – Beauty Destiny ($1.4) and Prince Of Porty ($1.7) – both only placed under Purton, with the former swishing his tail – like he did in his most recent trial – at the business end of the Class Four FWD Insurance Act Private Handicap (1,200m).

Purton was one of four participants to celebrate a Champions Day double, with the others being fellow jockey Karis Teetan and a couple of trainers, John Size and Tony Cruz. Purton and Size extended their leads in this term’s respective championships.