Zac Purton dominates at Sha Tin with quartet ahead of Champions Day
Preparing to partner the world’s highest-rated sprinter Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) at Champions Day next Sunday, Zac Purton slotted a quartet at Sha Tin on Sunday to secure another piece of Hong Kong racing history by breaking Douglas Whyte’s record for the most wins on Sha Tin’s dirt course.
Purton fired in three wins on the dirt to boost his career total victories on the surface in Hong Kong to 165, overtaking 13-time Hong Kong champion jockey Whyte (163) in the process and adding to the records the Australian already holds for the most wins by a jockey in Hong Kong (1,836) and the most victories at Happy Valley (694).
Seven-time champion Purton moved to 96 wins for the campaign – 40 more than second-placed Hugh Bowman (56) with 24 meetings left this season – striking with Meepmeep (Not A Single Doubt) in the Luk Wu Handicap (1650m, dirt) for John Size, Chill Kaka (Shooting To Win) in the Class 4 Ma Tau Kok Handicap (1650m, dirt) for Ricky Yiu and Bottomuptogether (Shamus Award) in the Class 2 Kowloon Bay Handicap (1200m, dirt) for Frankie Lor.
Purton also added a turf success via Chris So’s Top Dragon (Pierata) in the Class 4 Tsing Lung Tau Handicap (1400m).
“I’m the King of Dirt,” Purton joked after triumphing on Bottomuptogether. “It’s good to tick that off [the Sha Tin dirt record]. It’s a track where you need a horse that likes it and is in form. When they are in form, it really helps – I like ticking those boxes off, another one.”
Riding in peak form, Purton is booked to ride Ka Ying Rising in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Gr 1, 1200m), Galaxy Patch (Wandjina) in the Champions Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) and New Zealand raider El Vencedor (Shocking) in the QEII Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) next Sunday.
Top Dragon posted a class record time of 1m 20.76s, eclipsing Perfect Pair’s (Darci Brahma) mark of 1m 20.80s set in 2020 to vindicate So’s healthy opinion of the Pierata three-year-old.
“He’s got ability, he’s only three-years-old and I always tell the owners he’s a good horse,” So said. “He’s just needed a bit of time. So far, in five starts, he’s won and run two seconds and we knew that’s got ability but I didn’t want to rush him.”
The Tony Cruz-trained Californiatotality (Zoustar) became the first horse to have run in the Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on March 23 to win a race since the Classic when the tough four-year-old clinched the Class 2 Hong Kong Lions Club Cup Handicap (1800m) in class record time of 1m 45.84s.
Ridden quietly by Alexis Badel, the Zoustar (Northern Meteor) gelding stalked a strong pace set by Voyage Samurai (Dissident) to edge out fellow four-year-olds Steps Ahead (Written By) by a short-head with Pray For Mir (Justify) the same distance further away in third.
“It’s a fast track today. First, second, third, even fourth [Bundle Award] – it was all the lightweights coming in. I think 1800 metres is perfect for him, light weight even better,” Cruz said.
Rebounding from his 11th place in the Hong Kong Derby behind Cap Ferrat (Snitzel), Californiatotality registered his sixth win from 19 starts and claimed a PPG Bonus of HK$1 million (approx. AU$201,620).
On a day of milestones, 12-time champion trainer Size reached the 50-win mark with Must Go’s (All Too Hard) triumph in the Class 3 Siu Ma Shan Handicap (1200m, dirt) under Andrea Atzeni to edge further ahead of David Hayes in the 2024/25 championship.
Size leads the standings by eight from dual Hong Kong champion trainer Hayes (42), who combined with Ellis Wong and Solid Shalaa (Shalaa) to land the Class 4 Cheung Shan Handicap (1200m, dirt). Sidelined for almost a year after suffering a ligament injury, the five-year-old has returned in good order for Hayes.
“The staff at Conghua where he spent his rehabilitation have done a great job,” Hayes said. “He [Solid Shalaa] was a bit unlucky first-up and I thought he would run well today.”
Moduleconstruction (Overshare) posted his first win since overcoming ligament problems with a tenacious performance for Francis Lui and Lyle Hewitson in the Class 3 Ngau Tau Kok Handicap (1200m).
Luke Ferraris eclipsed his personal record for the number of wins in a season with Bright Inheritance’s (Star Witness) success for Dennis Yip in the Class 4 Kowloon Tsai Handicap (1600m).
Ferraris, 23, has posted 36 victories this season, surpassing his 2022/23 tally of 35, and 118 races in Hong Kong overall.
“It’s ticking along okay. It’s good to get on the board for Dennis. It’s taken me a while to ride him a winner, but never late than never. He had the horse in great condition. It’s a good when a plan comes together,” Ferraris said.
Lor and Atzeni collected braces when talented three-year-old South Star (Wrote) proved too strong in the Class 3 Ho Chung River Handicap (1400m), snaring his second win from only four starts.
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday.