‘Magic Man’ jockey gets almighty abuse for ride as trainer says ‘he’ll never, ever forget this as long as he lives’

A JOCKEY known as 'Magic Man' got absolutely slated by a trainer for his ride in the Melbourne Cup.

Joao Moreira finished second on 17-2 Soulcombe and picked up more than £620,000 for connections in the 'race that stops a nation'.

The horse is always slowly out of the gates and was last early on before flying home to finish two lengths behind 7-1 winner Without A Fight.

Moreira looked to do pretty well to thread his mount through a gap two furlongs out, by which time Without A Fight had already stolen a march.

But trainer Wayne Hawkes saw it differently and gave the 39-year-old Brazilian rider both barrels.

He said: "It gets worse and worse every time you watch it for Joao.

"He will never, ever forget this race as long as he lives.

"He should've won by a minute Soulcombe."

Not everyone saw it like that, though.

And it was one of Soulcombe's co-owners who leapt to the defence of the under-fire jock.

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Craig Sneesby said: "He's copping a bit of flak for it but imagine being on these animals, weighing 500kg, racing at 40mph and there are no gaps.

"I actually appreciate he was hunting for the gap, he didn't just sit there.

"He was riding to win and if you watch the overhead replay as I have, nothing presented.

"He's a world class jockey, you couldn't be any happier to have him on the horse.

"Coming second is still an amazing achievement for the actual race that presented him.

"Soulcombe showed he's got Melbourne Cup credentials, nothing more certain, he'll most certainly be back next year and with a lighter weight, I'd say, than Without A Fight."

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