Finishing second in the Melbourne Cup has only whetted the appetite of Hong Kong-based jockey Joao Moreira.

Riding in his third Melbourne Cup, Moreira went under by a long head in the 3200m race at Flemington on Tuesday.

"That raises my wish to win the Cup," Moreira said.

"You feel like you can eventually get there and, if I can, I'll be coming back as many times as I can.

"I feel like I can win this. It's a matter of time.

Moreira says he wouldn't have ridden Heartbreak City any differently and if the race was run 10 times believes the result may have been different on six occasions.

"I was tracking the right horse in Hartnell," Moreira said.

"When we turned for home and we were passing the Godolphin horses I thought I was going to win, but when Almandin came to me I thought OK we're going to have to fight."

Moreira said the defeat was hard to swallow but as a professional he was coping OK.

He was also very proud of the horse that gave him 120 per cent effort.

"He doesn't look a good horse, small and compact, but he's got a big engine and a big, big heart," Moreira said.

"The hardest part for me was I could see the trainer (Tony Martin) was hurt.

"He didn't want to put his head down because he knew his horse tried so hard."

Always the sportsman, Moreira slapped winning rider Kerrin McEvoy on the back after crossing the finishing line and said "well done".

"I'm glad I was the first to congratulate him," he said.