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Two of Hong Kong racing’s leading lights, New Zealand-bred galloper Beauty Generation and jockey Zac Purton, will once again join forces at Sha Tin on Sunday to try and secure a record third HK$20 million Gr.1 Champions Mile (1600m).
The pair have garnered 15 wins together so far, seven at Group One level, and 10 of their wins came in a perfect sequence between April 2018 and October 2019.
"They've become an inseparable pair, the two of them have married up very well," Beauty Generation 's trainer John Moore said.
"Zac knows him like part of his family now, he knows when he's on song and he knows when he's not. He knows his mood and of course he knows how to get the best out of him in a race, where to be, where not be, when to ask him for that race-winning effort."
Purton said Beauty Generation is the consummate professional on race day.
"He's such a gentle horse to ride on race day," the three-time Hong Kong champion jockey said.
"He just gets out of the gates, bowls along, does his thing, makes his own luck – they're the horses you dream of riding really."
Bred by Greg Tomlinson under his Nearco Stud banner, Beauty Generation was purchased by Kylie Bax out of Highden Park's 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Yearling Sale draft under her Hermes Syndication banner for $60,000.
Beauty Generation initially raced in Australia under the care of trainer Anthony Cummings for whom he finished runner-up in the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and Gr.2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m).
He was then sold to Hong Kong interests and has gone on to record eight Group One victories and more than HK$100 million in earnings on his way to securing back-to-back Hong Kong Horse Of The Year crowns.
Purton has enjoyed the journey with Beauty Generation and he said he stands out in his riding career.
"Every jockey looks for that one big horse in their career," Purton said. "I rode good horses and won big races, but I never had that one horse at that level that I could ride over a long period of time.
"The others I'd been on and off at various stages of their career but this guy, I've pretty much ridden him right through his time in Hong Kong. I got off him for a few starts but I haven't missed too many races on him."
Moore recognises the value of having one of the world's best jockeys as his stable superstar's close partner. Purton's exquisite judgement has been key to the gelding being able to maintain searching fractions on the front end and still pull out more when it matters.
"It's very important to have a partnership like this – how they gel is very important," Moore said.
"Zac and 'Beauty' did gel a long time ago and you can see it in how the horse performs for him and how Zac knows what Beauty Generation can do."
Purton hopes the Road To Rock gelding can do what no other horse has managed to do before and win the Champions Mile for a third time.
A victory on Sunday would also see the seven-year-old notch a 19th win as a Hong Kong-trained galloper, one more than the mighty Silent Witness. He is already the track record holder at a mile and Hong Kong's all-time leading money earner.
"Three Champions Miles, it's never been done before," Purton said. "I don't know what the Group One record is for horses in Hong Kong but he might be looking at setting a new record there."
