Photo: HKJC
Zac Purton’s quest for a 10th Hong Kong jockeys’ championship – and a sixth title in succession continues to gather early momentum after the Australian snared a double at Sha Tin on Sunday (13 September).
Purton continued metronomic progress towards a 10th jockeys’ crown with a third double from the first three meetings of the 2026/27 season.
Successful on New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run graduate Ruby Thrive (Anders) in the Class 4 Hing Wah Handicap (1000m), Purton closed the card with a typically unflustered ride on the Danny Shum-trained Nyx Gluck (NZ) (Redwood) in the Class 3 Yiu Tung Handicap (1400m).
“It was a nice win, he obviously had a light weight and a good gate (barrier one), but he had to take another step from what he was doing last season,” Purton said. “They went hard and had him out of his comfort zone a little bit.
“He had to shoulder his way through but once he balanced up, he got to the line nicely.”
Purton, 43, leads the 2026/27 standings with six wins from Vincent Ho (four) and Derek Leung (three).
Leung also figured prominently with wins on Cody Mo’s Draco (Deep Field)) in the second section of the Class 5 Hong Tung Handicap (1400m) and David Hayes-trained Absolute Awakened (NZ) (Ardrossan) in the Class 4 Mei Tung Handicap (1400m).
Rattan Galaxy (NZ) (Exceed And Excel) set a new 1400m class record of 1m 21.26s in the first section of the Class 5 Hong Tung Handicap (1400m) for Manfred Man and Luke Ferraris – only for the mark to be lowered to 1m 21.01s an hour later by Draco.
Man sealed a double with Ruby Thrive in the Hing Wah Handicap as Hong Kong International Sale graduate Happy Shooter (Deep Field) posted his second victory for Danny Shum and Lyle Hewitson in the second section of the Class 4 Lok Wah Handicap (1200m) before apprentice Nichola Yuen led from the outset on Curraghmore’s 2022 Book 1 Karaka graduate Lucy In The Sky (No Nay Never) in the Class 3 Oi Tung Handicap (1200m).
