Tears flow for as homegrown hero Joao Moreira lands South America’s signature event

Obataye landed a famous victory under the ‘Magic Man’ in the G1 Gran Premio Latinoamericano in Brazil – with Laura King on hand to examine the state of racing and breeding in a proud equine nation

There couldn’t have been a better result. Homegrown hero Joao Moreira guided Obataye, to victory in the Gran Premio Latinoamericano at the Hipodromo da Gavea, in the shadow of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The tears flowed for an intensely personal success. Not only had jockey renowned as ‘Magic Man’ only recently lost his father-in-law, but he had recommended Obataye to his brother as a $12,000 yearling and helped to break him in and nurture the young talent before Obataye moved on the jockeys retainer Haras Rio Iguassu.

“I’m the happiest man on the planet right now,” said an emotional Moreira. “I’ve always been travelling so I’ve never had the chance to ride in this race before. Maybe it’s not the biggest race in the world, but it means a lot to me.”

The Gran Premio Latinoamericano, the most prestigious race in South America, switches location each year between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Peru. Around 10,000 people were at Gavea (‘Topsail’) to see it, making the most of free entry, a plethora of activities for children and multiple pop-up bars and food kiosks.

The majority of the crowd stuck it out for the big race, run at just after 8pm as the final event on a showpiece 11-race card featuring seven Group races , despite a heavy rain shower just before.

Later, in an interview with the excellent Idol Horse website, Moreira reflected on a popular success. “It’s the biggest race in South America and it’s an international race and every year it is held in a different country and we were able to get involved with the right horse,” he said.

After making his name in Singapore and Hong Kong, Moreira is now based in Brazil full-time, but mainly in Sao Paolo. “I have probably won more famous races but it’s a very meaningful race for me,” he went on.

“I’d never had a chance to ride in it. I hadn’t ridden that long in Brazil before I moved to Asia, but I was a leading rider here and I had still never even had a ride, let alone a chance.”

On Sunday, though, the Hipodromo da Gavea came back down to earth. Moreira wasn’t present for a much more low-key card, when a couple of hundred people spread out among the four grandstands to watch nine dirt races, the rain forcing them to move from the turf track.

One of those who was in attendance, however, was Victoria Mota (right), whose jockey husband Leandro Henrique won the first race on the card. Mota was a jockey herself, riding as an apprentice when she finished third in the Saudi Cup Jockeys’ Challenge in 2024.

With a baby, Manoela, born just three months ago, she has now turned to training and is currently Rio’s only female trainer among 100 or so based at the track and in the training centres. “Most Sundays there are more people here but the big party was yesterday, so everyone is hungover,” she laughed.

Mota’s whole family is immersed in the tight-knit racing community. Her mother and father both work at the Jockeys’ School and the former also hosts the on-course telecast. Mota is therefore well-placed to comment on the current state of racing in Rio, which is run by the Jockey Club Brasileiro.

“We are rising, we’re trying to,” she says. “Yesterday the president [Raul Lima Neto] told everyone he’s raising the prize-money. We are trying to pay better to attract more owners and get more horses into the [Rio] Jockey Club. It’s not a bad moment – we’ve been worse – but it’s not brilliant.”

Mota has taken matters into her own hands, forming the amusingly-named ‘Tight Skirt Syndicate’ – just for women – for whom she currently trains one horse.

She’s playing on the social side of the sport, which is important to racing in Rio, as Oscar Bertoletti, CEO of OSAF, the South American Organisation for the Promotion of Thoroughbred, explains.

“The main income for this track is not from racing, it’s from the social club,” he says, pointing to a glass-fronted building halfway along the back straight. “They have 5,000 members and many services for their members, including racing.”

Gambling on slot machines is currently banned in Brazil, but Bertoletti is hopeful this will eventually provide an income source for racing, pointing to a successful model employed by neighbouring Uruguay.

“In Uruguay they have casinos which support the races and, as a result, lots of people are going racing,” he says. “We think it will happen here, but maybe not for some time.”

Sao Paulo, which races at Cidade Jardim (‘Garden City’) in the heart of the city, perhaps needs the additional funding even more. 

“In Sao Paulo the land is very valuable for real estate,” explains Cidade Jardim-based Mayra Federico, Superintendente of the Associação Brasileira de Criadores e Proprietários do Cavalo de Corrida [ABCPCC].

“In Rio there’s many restaurants and bars around the track so they’re not going to mess with it. For the past seven years Sao Paulo has not been, in my opinion, so well managed so its empty, no-one goes.

“It’s disappointing as Sao Paulo is booming, it’s where the money is – if you need a job you go to Sao Paulo – but there’s no-one at the track so they’re struggling.”

One thing Brazil can depend on is the quality of its bloodstock. It’s been a while since the Brazilian-bred, French-trained and Swedish-owned Gloria De Campeão won the Dubai World Cup in 2010 or Pico Central took the G1 Met Mile in 2004 but selling horses internationally remains a big business for Brazilian breeders.

“The quality, especially, for a mile or more on turf, is the best on the continent, better even than Argentina,” says Bertoletti. “Some of these horses, Obataye and [G1 Grande Premio Diana winner] Ethereum are good enough to compete overseas.”

Breeding in Brazil has bounced back from a low period during Covid and foal numbers are steady again.

“There are more than 100 stud farms split between Bagé – on the border with Uruguay – and Parana, with a few more in Sao Paulo,” explains Federico. “Sao Paulo used to be the main breeding centre but it’s got so developed that most people sold the land and moved to Parana or Bagé.”

The Bagé farms are impressive; vast hectares of deep grass in which mares and foals spend their time outside, coming in only to feed. It’s the perfect environment for raising young horses.

There are more than 150 stallions in Brazil, the most expensive of which is 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer, who stands at Haras Old Friends for a fee of 25,000 Brazilian Reals (about $4,650). Not far away stand two more Breeders’ Cup winners, Outstrip and Game Winner, while a newer recruit is Sydney G1 winner Microscope. Most farms also stand a Brazilian-bred stallion, but these command a much lower fee. 

“The foal population is now steady – for three years it’s around 1800,” says Federico. “During Covid it declined by around 40 per cent, a big drop, but it’s built back up.

“The breeders breed to race and to sell and all of them will export abroad if they get a good offer. If a Brazilian-bred horse wins overseas it’s massive and the owners here get very excited. It doesn’t mean people will come to Brazil, but they’re going to buy more Brazilian horses – it’s very positive. 

“Everyone would like to breed a horse than can win a race in another country, mainly the UAE or America. However, now, with Trump, you must pay 50 per cent of the value of the horse in tax, so no-one from the US wants to buy horses from Brazil.”

It is a tough situation, possibly made even more frustrating in that few would doubt the quality of Brazilian-bred.

In April, meanwhile, the GP Latinoamericano moves dates and location to Peru, where it will be run on the newly installed turf course in Lima.

Obataye could well be in the line-up and attempt to win the race twice, something not yet achieved. If he does, he’ll be another fine example of Brazilian breeding and a horse capable of taking on the world.

There is nothing wrong with the product here, or those producing it. Showcasing it, however, is a problem.

• Visit the Jockey Club Brasileiro website and the OSAF website

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