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) to share riding honours with Derek Leung and Ellis Wong.



While Leung and Wong enjoyed their best hauls of the season so far with braces, 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 Manfred Man’s Ruby Thrive (126lb) in the Class 4 Hing Wah Handicap (1000m), Purton closed the card with a typically unflustered ride on Danny Shum’s Nyx Gluck (121lb) 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 Leung (three).



Leung also figured prominently with wins on Cody Mo’s Draco (120lb) in the second section of the Class 5 Hong Tung Handicap (1400m) and David Hayes-trained Absolute Awakened (124lb) in the Class 4 Mei Tung Handicap (1400m) to continue his solid start to the season.



Wong matched Leung and Purton’s feat by scoring on Alpha Strike (120lb) in the Class 3 Wah Fu Handicap (1000m) for Caspar Fownes and Luck Is Back (115lb) in the Class 4 Tung Wah Group Of Hospitals Challenge Cup Handicap (1600m) for Pierre Ng.



Alpha Strike again displayed his effectiveness when resuming over the straight 1000m course, despite shifting in markedly.



“He jumped good but half way, he started to shift. I tried to keep him straight but he still tried to hang in. But he won tough. I think he likes that fresh feeling,” Wong said. “I’m very happy today and so happy to win for Boss (Fownes).”

Fownes, the reigning Hong Kong Champion Trainer, said: “Very happy for Ellis, he’s been working very hard so he deserves some luck coming his way. I hope he can continue to improve.”



Wong’s decision to press forward on Luck Is Back paid off handsomely when the 31/1 chance led throughout to clinch the trophy race. A dual Group 1 winner in Brazil, the six-year-old was never headed to post his first win in Hong Kong at his 22nd start.



Fellow former South American Kempes (134lb) demonstrated his class with victory in the first section of the Class 4 Lok Wah Handicap (1200m) under James Orman. Prepared by David Hall, the Argentine Group 1 winner sprinted strongly along the inside fence to post his second win in Hong Kong.



“He's been a hard horse to handle (in) the Hong Kong environment. He's not the easiest horse to deal with and the further he goes into his ‘prep’, the harder he finds it to handle the tracks,” Hall said. “But I think his ability's always been better than Class 4, there's no doubt about that. It's good to get another win on the board and hopefully we can keep working as he gets a bit older and a bit more mature - he might be able to get back into Class 3.”



Rattan Galaxy (128lb) 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 (135lb) 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 Me Tsui’s Lucy In The Sky (118lb) in the Class 3 Oi Tung Handicap (1200m).



Shum’s double saw last season’s runner-up in the trainers’ championship move to four wins, one clear of Mo, Hayes, Fownes and Ng.



Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday (16 September).