Hong Kong's champion jockey Joao Moreira has brushed off criticism of his recent Sydney riding record in emphatic fashion, steering McCreery to a Group Three win at Rosehill.

Moreira, who has ridden major winners around the world, said when he rode in Sydney in the autumn, the tracks were unsuitable for the horses he was on.

"If horses can't perform on wet tracks they can't win," Moreira said.

"I love Australia and I'm happy to be back."

Moreira came to Sydney on Saturday primarily to ride Omei Sword and picked up the ride on her Chris Waller-trained stablemate McCreery in the Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) at 54kg.

He had McCreery (3.60) in a good position early and was ready to pounce when the field straightened up for the run home.

McCreery surged to the front and had too much in reserve, holding off Sir John Hawkwood ($6) by 1-1/2 lengths with another two lengths to the favourite Allergic ($2.50).

Waller said he was unsure whether McCreery would step up in distance to the Metropolitan (2400m) or come back to the 1600m of the Epsom on October 1.

Either way he believes he has the talent to win at Group One level.

"He will go up several ratings points for this win but he should still get in to either race with a light weight," Waller said.

"Three weeks between runs suits him whether he goes up in distance or not but going up to 2400 metres is harder.

"Jo got him into a nice position and there was a good tempo on so everything went right.

"That is what Joao is great for doing. Gets that acceleration out of them. He made him look like a good horse.

"The horse didn't get Hugh Bowman's weight otherwise he would have ridden him but I'm glad to have Jo."