Zac Purton broke new ground at Sha Tin this afternoon (Sunday, 31 May) as the Australian became the first jockey to ride 2,000 winners in Hong Kong, reaching the milestone aboard Rising World (121lb) in the Hong Kong Wu Hua General Association Cup Plate (1200m) for Griffins.



Breaking swiftly from barrier 10 on Brett Crawford’s two-year-old debutant, the eight-time Hong Kong Champion Jockey attained the phenomenal landmark on his 11,229th ride in the city, finishing a short-head in front of Almighty Warrior (126lb) in 1m 09.74s.



“At least I’m not going to have to go home tonight and listen to Cash say ‘why didn’t you have a winner today, Daddy?’, so we’ve had the winner and he’s got the trophy – so it’s job done,” Purton said.



Purton, 43, is from Lismore, Australia and moved to Hong Kong in 2007. He rode his first winner at Happy Valley in September, 2007 aboard Elfhelm. Since then, he’s won riding titles in 2013/14, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25, surpassed the 100-win mark in a season 10 times and, holds single-season records for wins (179) and earnings (HK$277,712,060) – both attained in 2022/23.



An Australian Racing Hall of Famer and all-time great of Hong Kong racing, Purton’s win strike rate in Hong Kong exceeds 17% across his career. He said: “It is (a wonderful achievement) when I reflect back upon it and look at some of those great moments that I’ve had in my career. It truly is amazing.



“I’ve been very fortunate and, of course, I couldn’t do anything without the support that I get from the owners, trainers, and Hong Kong’s been such a great place for me.”



Purton has won the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) – Hong Kong’s most sought-after prize – with Luger (2015) and Massive Sovereign (2024), and after Gary Moore and Noel Barker, he is only the third Australian to win a riding championship in Hong Kong.



Purton’s career began as a fresh-faced apprentice in Coffs Harbour with trainer Trevor Hardy some 30 years ago. He rode his first winner – Magic Zap – at Armidale in Australia on 6 May, 2000 before his move to Hong Kong as a 24-year-old.



His first elite-level win in Hong Kong was for Paul O’Sullivan on Fellowship in the 2010 HKG1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m). Purton, who is admired for his hard work, captivated the racing scene with famed tussles against great championship rivals Douglas Whyte – who Purton surpassed as the jockey with the most Hong Kong wins when he rode his 1,814th last year – and ‘Magic Man’ Joao Moreira.



Whyte and Moreira are the only other jockeys in Hong Kong racing history to ride more than 1,000 winners. Purton’s renowned for associations with Beauty Generation, Exultant, Aerovelocity, Ambitious Dragon, Southern Legend, Lucky Sweynesse, Military Attack and more, while nine-time Group 1 winner Ka Ying Rising tops them all, he says.



“Ka Ying Rising has been very big, of course; he stands atop. The association I had with Beauty Generation, I really enjoyed that. Aerovelocity – going to Japan and winning there with him was fantastic. There’s so many horses – I could stand here all day and name them all but there’s been a fair few Horse of the Years that I’ve been able to throw my leg over and it’s made it a lot easier,” Purton said.



Exultant’s 2020 G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m) success saw Purton become the only jockey to have won all 12 Group 1 races in Hong Kong racing’s calendar. He is also a three-time LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship winner in 2017, 2020 and 2021.



Purton won the G1 The Everest (1200m), G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m), G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) and G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) with Ka Ying Rising this term, while Voyage Bubble provided him with a fifth G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) score after Ambitious Dragon (2012), Beauty Only (2016), Beauty Generation (2018) and California Spangle (2022).



“To come here and not have the red carpet rolled out for me; I had to work for everything that I have got and that wasn’t easy to stay determined, resilient and keep turning up, and everything that comes with that to be standing here today – it makes it, obviously, feel like it’s all been worthwhile and obviously it has. I’ve had to work for it,” Purton said.