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Ruan Maia is the latest in a long list of Brazilian jockeys who have come to Asia to seek fame and fortune and a winning double on Saturday suggests he is on the right path.

Whilst Joao Moreira has become a Racing God in Asia with his magnificent achievements first in Singapore and now his domination of Hong Kong, Brazilian jockeys’ have been having success in the region since the late 90’s.

Eurico Rosa Da Silva was one of the very first to make an impact in Macau and after four years left to go to Woodbine in Canada, where he remains one of their leading riders today. His best season at Woodbine was 201 victories from 809 rides in 2015.

Before Da Silva left Macau he introduced another young Brazilian to the enclave in Manoel Nunes who dominated Macau racing winning six Jockeys’ Titles before moving to Singapore. Nunes has since won the Singapore Jockeys Championship for the past three years running.

Fausto Durso was another to arrive in Macau with the help of Eurico Da Silva and after being runner up to Nunes on many occasions went on to take two Macau Jockey’s Titles.

Luis Duarte and Dubai World Cup winning jockey Tiago Pereira are others that have all plied their trade successfully in Macau.

In was on the advice of Luis Duarte that Ruan Maia headed to Macau to try his luck, and after a somewhat rocky start the 28 year old is starting to make his presence felt.

Like most of the South American riders when they first arrive in Macau, Maia was inclined to ride for speed and didn’t mind covering a bit of ground. After a couple of suspensions and some time to sit back and study Macau racing, Maia has really turned the corner in the past month and seems to be lifting more with each meeting with some good thinking rides.

Ideal Smart Horse was the first of Maia’s winners on Saturday when he bought the Stanley Chin trained galloper with a sweeping run down the outside to win the first of the day the L’Arc Charity Maiden over 1200 metres.

Only Pearl from the K H Leong yard gave Maia win number two for the afternoon with the Brazilian giving the six year old a nice ride off the front, to win the Macau Racehorse Owners Charity Trophy over 1200 metres.

Maia like all of the Brazilians before him has a great work ethic and is a busy man at the track of a morning. He possesses beautiful balance and is able to ride the minimum of 116 pounds.