Purton Stands Alone At Pinnacle In Hong Kong

Aussie ace betters legendary jockey Whyte's record of 1,813 wins with Happy Valley brace

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HONG KONG - In true grandstand fashion, Zac Purton waited till the very last race at Happy Valley on Jan 22 to stand alone as the jockey with the most wins in Hong Kong racing history.

After weeks of counting down the build-up - Purton would ring a bell and swop number blocks down after each winner - towards the long-standing mark of 1,813 wins set by the legendary Douglas Whyte, who retired from race-riding in 2019 following 12,269 Hong Kong rides, the John Size-trained Spirit Of Peace's win in the third section of the Class 4 Kowloon Park Handicap (1,200m) saw him equal the record.

The seven-time Hong Kong champion jockey had six more rides to sit in rarefied air on his own, but could not quite hit the mark (including two seconds).

Favourite View Of The World in the last race, the second section of the Class 3 Victoria Park Handicap (1,200m), was his last bullet or he would have to put the champagne on ice.

But the Australian was in no mood to celebrate another day. He did not squander the chance provided by the Dennis Yip-trained galloper who powered down the Happy Valley straight to reach the unprecedented milestone of 1,814 wins.

Purton, 42, hails from Lismore, Australia and moved to Hong Kong in 2007, recording his first winner at Happy Valley on Sept 12, 2007 atop Elfhelm. Since then, his storied career has seen him surpass the 100-win mark in a season nine times, including a record 179 in 2022-23 - also giving him a single-season earnings record of HK$277,712,060 (S$48.3 million).

His win strike rate over 17 years of competitive riding in Hong Kong is over 17 per cent.