Zac Purton reached another milestone victory of one hundred wins for the season at Sha Tin on Sunday and, while it was entirely predictable, that did not detract from the enormity of his achievement as he continued his all-conquering presence in one of the most competitive racing precincts in the world.
It is the tenth season in succession that Purton has brought the up his ‘ton’ and the eleventh season overall.
Purton rode 112 winners in the 2013/14 season … and then crept over the line with 107 winners in the 2016/17 season and never looked back from there, posting over one hundred winners in every season since then … 136, 168, 147, 125, 136, 179, 130 and then 138 in the 2024/25 season. Now he has done it again.
Purton stands on exactly one hundred winners … and counting … for the current season.
Purton set a new record with his 179 winners in the 2022/23. He took that crown away from Joao Moreira, who had held the record since the 2016/17 season in which Moreira claimed 170 winners.
In January 2025, Purton set a new record for the all-time number of wins in Hong Kong when he claimed win number 1814 at Happy Valley to go past Douglas Whyte whose total of 1813 had stood since 2019.
Purton is an eight-time Hong Kong Jockey Championship winner … with a ninth title as close to a certainty as you can call in racing.
Purton is regular jockey of Ka Ying Rising who recently broke Silent Witness’s record of the most wins in a row when he scored his eighteenth straight win … and then extended that record to nineteen wins in a row. Silent Witness’s winning run came to an end in May 2025, meaning his record had stood for over twenty-years.
So, what, if anything, is there left for Purton to achieve. Certainly, he has nothing left to prove.
Purton currently sits on 1978 winners in Hong Kong … so the incredible figure of 2000 wins is a very achievable target.
And. of course, more feature race wins will be on the cards, which is likely to start on FWD Champions Day on Sunday.
Watch this space.
