Leading jockey Zac Purton landed a flurry of winners at Happy Valley on Wednesday night that left his rival Joao Moreira with an uphill task in the hunt for the jockeys’ premiership.
Moreira narrowed the gap on Purton to three wins with an early success on the Caspar Fownes-trained DAILY BEAUTY IN Race 4. However, Purton hit back with a four-punch combo from Race 6, teaming up with trainer Francis Lui to take out the final four races on the card, which has now catapulted Lui to 59 wins and just two behind leading trainer Ricky Yiu.
Fortuitously, Purton was afforded two extra rides across the night as Vincent Ho was stood down, with two of his wins a result of the pick-up rides. The haul of winners took him to 136 wins, seven clear of the Magic Man with six meetings left this season. Moreira will ride at no more than five of those with a suspension ruling him out of the fixture on 8 July.
