Zac attack: Purton closing in on Joao Moreira's Hong Kong record

Zac Purton has Joao Moreira's Hong Kong record of 170 wins in a season in his sights after a stunning six-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday left him only six behind with two meetings still to go.

The 36-year-old Australian is already enjoying a career-best season, highlighted by an unbeaten eight-race run on the brilliant Beauty Generation, and Sunday's six-timer was his fourth of the current season.

It took his recent run to ten winners from his last 17 rides – a phenomenal record in an arena as competitive as Hong Kong.

Purton has rides in all nine races on Wednesday's card at Happy Valley and hopes to have a similar number at the final fixture of the season at Sha Tin on Sunday, but while the seven winners he requires to top Moreira's achievement does not sound unrealistic given his current form he is playing down his chances and insists he will need a lot of luck.

He said: "I think it's going to be hard, and on Wednesday night at Happy Valley I've been dealt a lot of bad draws, which makes my job even harder. I'm going to need a lot of luck to even get close, let alone to better it, but we'll see what happens."

Zac Purton in numbers

164 wins from 661 rides in 2018-19 season
33% strike-rate when teaming up with John Moore this season
101 winning favourites this season (38%)
10 wins from last 17 rides
4 six-timers this season

Reflecting on a remarkable season, Purton said: "Win, lose or draw I've had a very good season. I've had a lot of support and I've ridden a lot of very nice horses. Things have gone really well, so I'm not going to complain whatever happens. I'll sign off next Sunday appreciative of the season I've enjoyed whether I get there [to 170] or not."

He added: "Beauty Generation is the horse that had been missing for me in my career. It's hard to explain how one horse can be so much better than the rest, but he can do things that other horses can't. It's very humbling to find myself on a horse of his calibre, and I've really enjoyed the ride he's taken me on.

"I feel like we are only just seeing the best of him now and hopefully there's at least another 12 months in him and maybe more."

Zac Purton scores on Magic Success at Sha Tin on Sunday, one of six winners for the jockey on the cardCredit: Hong Kong Jockey Club

Purton is soon heading to Europe for a family holiday, but a first appearance in the Shergar Cup at Ascot – where he won the 2012 King's Stand Stakes on Little Bridge on the sole UK ride of his career – is not on the agenda.

He said: "I'm going to Portugal, Sardinia and Tuscany with the family. I was offered the Shergar Cup, but I'd already made my plans well in advance and with my parents and my sister, my wife's mum and so on coming up, as well as friends coming to meet us, I couldn't leave them in the lurch.

"It wouldn't be right, but if I could know a year in advance it would be different. In the meantime I'm undefeated in the UK, as I keep telling everyone."

Moore: trainers' title race going down to the wire

While Purton's late bid for the Moreira record is attracting plenty of attention in Hong Kong, the main battle as the season approaches its climax lies in the nail-biter between two titans of the training ranks, with seven-time champion John Moore now only one winner behind his great rival John Size, the ten-time champion, the pair on 73 and 74 respectively.

Moore, who has handled Beauty Generation so supremely well, had a winner at both Happy Valley and Sha Tin last week, his Magic Success featuring in Purton's six-timer at the latter track.

John Moore: the trainer is just one behind great rival John Size in the trainers' title race in Hong KongCredit: Hong Kong Jockey Club

Size's run on the other hand has stalled somewhat as he has had only one winner from the last five meetings and has saddled 23 runners since a success. Sha Tin on Sunday was especially frustrating with three seconds, the last two beaten a neck and a short head respectively.

Trainers' title race standings

John Size 74
John Moore 73

Moore, 69, will be obliged to retire at the end of next season under Hong Kong Jockey Club rules which have already been amended to allow him to continue past 65, so another championship would be especially welcome.

He was delighted to narrow the gap and told the South China Morning Post: "It's great to get within one of John. It's going down to the wire.

"On Wednesday, we’re very strong, and then on the last day we have the big boys out again when Thanks Forever will be back out with Zac on board."

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