Zac Purton will continue his pursuit of Douglas Whyte’s towering Hong Kong career record for the most wins by a jockey after surpassing Joao Moreira’s mark for the most victories in a single season at Sha Tin on Sunday (9 July).
Further cementing his status among Hong Kong horseracing’s galaxy of stars, Purton eclipsed Moreira’s 2016/17 record of 170 wins from 710 rides with a quartet.
Purton drew level on 170 with his 689th ride with success on David Hall-trained Ka Ying Victory and then secured the outright record with his 171st win at his 693rd ride with Manfred Man-trained Magic Supreme’s victory in the Class 4 Arculli Trophy Handicap (1200m).
Purton crowned a landmark meeting in style by adding two more wins, striking with Hall’s Flying Mojito in the Class 4 Chow Silver Plate Handicap (1600m) and John Size’s Helios Express in the Class 3 Philip Chen Trophy Handicap (1200m) to boost his tally to 173.
Revealing he had ignored advice from a doctor regarding a foot issue at the start of the season, Purton finished the meeting with a total of 1,604 wins – a tally bettered only by 13-time champion jockey Whyte’s 1,813.