Purton Hits Lead In Champion Jockey Race
Zac Purton will enter the final nine meetings of the Hong Kong racing season as the jockeys’ championship leader for the first time this term after the Australian rider scored a double at Sha Tin.
Purton has been engaged in a titanic battle with Joao Moreira, the three-time Champion Jockey who served the second day of a two-meeting suspension today. At the start of proceedings on Members’ Day at Sha Tin today, Moreira held a precarious one-win lead, 116 to 115, over Purton.
Shaking off a bout of the flu that left him congested and unwell, Purton drew level in the title race when the Ricky Yiu-trained Little Bird strode clear in the Class 4 Beas River Country Club Handicap (1200m), before finally gaining the upper hand with Starship’s victory in the Class 4 The Hilltop In The Valley Handicap (1400m) for trainer Paul O’Sullivan.
“Riding four or five winners at every meeting just doesn’t happen. I didn’t have a great book of rides, but I came here thinking I could ride two winners and I’ve left with two winners so I suppose that’s a positive. I think it’s going to be a good battle from here I just want to clear my head and get rid of the flu, so that I can attack properly.”
Yiu himself had a double, preparing Alcari to take the day’s feature, the Class 3 Members Cup (1200m). Karis Teetan, who scored a race-to-race double after Imperial Concorde’s win in the Class 4 Beijing Clubhouse Handicap (1650m), was in the saddle as Alcari prevailed by a nose, producing a gritty effort to hold off the Umberto Rispoli-ridden Cruising at his local debut.
Credit: HKJC Press Release