3 minute read

Zac Purton hit a big milestone at Sha Tin on Saturday when the champion jockey became only the second rider in Hong Kong history to reach 1000 wins.

He reached the milestone when Thanks Forever breezed to an easy success.

“It’s a nice milestone,” Purton said, playing down the significance of the moment.

The victory took Purton’s tally for the season to 145. His 1000th win comes just 10 weeks after he surpassed Tony Cruz’s 948 wins to move into second on the all-time Hong Kong winning list.

Douglas Whyte, about to embark on his training career, retired last year with a final tally of 1813 wins achieved across 23 seasons.

It has taken the Purton only 12 seasons to reach 1000 wins.

In his first season in 2007/08 season he won 29 races; his second produced 43 and since a maiden century in 2013/14 he has established his position as one of the world’s best.

He later nailed win number 1001 but is still chasing Joao Moreira’s all-time single season record of 170 wins.

The soon-to-be three-time Hong Kong champion has nine race meetings to secure the 24 wins he needs to beat Moreira’s record after ending with 146 on the board on Saturday.