Zac Purton took advantage of Joao Moreira's absence to draw another two wins clear at the top of the jockeys' championship, and he feels there could be another win in store for one of his winners, Golden Deer, who made it back-to-back wins in blinkers.
As Moreira took leave to partner Glorious Days in Tokyo, Purton's brace put him 19 clear of his rival, taking him to 104 wins and within sight of his maiden crown - so much so that most are now talking about whether he can break Douglas Whyte's all-time record for of 114 wins in a season, not just clinch the title.
With a two-meeting suspension beginning after Wednesday's Sha Tin fixture, and eight meetings remaining, the superstitious Purton probably won't call the championship over until it is a mathematical impossibility to lose, but he wasn't afraid of predicting that Golden Deer could be winning again soon, despite rising to the top of Class Three with a third career victory.
"He is a transformed horse with blinkers on," Purton said of the Benno Yung Tin-pang-trained four-year-old, who hung on for a narrow win from impressive looking three-year-old Lang Tai Sing. "I think he can be very competitive again at the top of Class Three - the horse he beat looks pretty smart and there was a fair gap to the rest."
Racing Post, HK