Joao Moreira much prefers the view he had of champion miler Maurice yesterday from on top of the horse than the one he had from aboard Able Friend in last year’s Longines Hong Kong Mile watching the Japanese raider cruise to victory.

Able Friend’s season-ending injury and star jockey Ryan Moore’s commitment to Coolmore for the Guineas festival at Newmarket gave Moreira the chance to ride the likely Champions Mile favourite.

And a strong gallop on the grass at Sha Tin on Thursday has the Brazilian pumped up ahead of Sunday’s HK$16 million feature.

“It wasn’t the best feeling on international day in December when I saw him going past me, but being on him today, the feeling was great,” Moreira said.

“He is a lovely horse; he has the body, he has the attitude and he is the type of horse everyone dreams to have – he has got me very excited about Sunday.”

With meticulous trainer Noriyuki Hori keeping close watch, Moreira took Maurice through a key piece of work, the five-year-old having not raced since his barnstorming win in December.

Maurice, known by some as “the beast”, has won off a long lay-off before, capturing the Group One Mile Championship at Kyoto last November.

Watch: 'Magic Man' Joao Moreira chat about Maurice's chances in this year's Champions Mile    

But some track watchers observed that the entire looks heavier than his last visit – which would be understandable – Moreira was happy with how the horse worked.

“I think the horse is in good shape and I am blessed to be given the opportunity to ride him,” Moreira said after Maurice cantered down the home straight around to the 1,200m mark and set off on a solid gallop, working under a hold to the line with a final 400m section of 23.52 seconds and his last 200m in 11.56 seconds.

“He was very strong to the line on the bridle. He had a very good look around, but that doesn’t concern me, as he has done everything fine before and I have a very high opinion of the horse.”

Moreira said that while Maurice was a lovely looking animal, the attitude part meant he needed to provide some extra motivation.

“Sometimes you have to force him to do things because he wants to do what he wants to do, and what he wants most is to not do much at all,” the Brazilian said.

“He just wants to keep to himself, he just wants to walk around if he can and he just wants to look around.

“At the beginning, I had to give him a dig to get going, and then he started to look around a little bit and I had to keep a hold of him a little bit tight to keep him focused.

“He is a beautiful horse, he has a nice body shape, he is tall and he moves like a real champion.”