Four of Joao Moreira's booked mounts won at Sha Tin yesterday but the records will ultimately show that the Brazilian wizard only got a percentage cheque for three of the victories.
That's because the fourth, local debutant Red Marvel, won the eighth race after leaving a crucial piece of gear on the track soon after the start - the jockey.
GALLERY: Kenneth Chan's photos of all races at Sha Tin on Sunday.
"He went up in the air once in the gates and not too high and came down.
"Then the gates opened just as he was going up again, he banged me against the side of the barrier and I bounced back but when I got there, my horse was gone," said Moreira, who had a harmless tumble and rode on for the rest of the day.
Red Marvel applied himself admirably, joined the field and swooshed down the outside to touch off the leaders and finish in front. "My horse still won the race so he looks like he doesn't need a jockey," added Moreira.
It was an unexpected blip on an otherwise typical day at the races for Moreira, who won on Victor Emperor for Dennis Yip Chor-hong, added Happy Agility for the first of Ricky Yiu Poon-fai's double and rounded things out with Tony Cruz-trained Terrific Master.
Of the three, Moreira seemed most enthusiastic about the prospects of Happy Agility, promoted from the reserve bench for the race after a scratching and relishing a change of tactics that was orchestrated by the jockey.
"Joao didn't even tell me what he thought went wrong last time when this horse was a beaten favourite but he asked me to leave him on the horse because he knew what to do - I guess he did it," said Yiu, who also won with Great Spirit (Derek Leung Ka-chun) later in the card.
"Last time, I pushed him to be handy and I don't think it suited him," explained Moreira.
"And Ricky was very understanding when I told him I wanted to be more patient today.
"He got back a little bit when they went fast for the first 300m, then his head went up in the air when the leaders slowed quickly but he was able to overcome all that and finish strongly to win. He feels like he will be capable in the next class up."
Terrific Master has a longer history than Happy Agility and quite a bit of that history involves making mistakes in races, missing the start or overracing, but he looked a different deal under Moreira.
"This horse is no star and he got Douglas Whyte in trouble last time, but Joao eliminated all the problems and got the best out of him," said Cruz.
Moreira, having his first ride on the gelding, said he was surprised to hear about Terrific Master's sinister past.
"He didn't do anything wrong at all for me and I was quite impressed by his turn of foot," the Brazilian said.
"And my other winner, I have to thank the trainer because he left the tactics to me, to ride the race however it flowed.
"I thought I would be closer but the pace was too fast, so I sat back and he gave me a good finish. He's a horse on the up."
