ONE of the fiercest champion jockey battles in recent memory concluded in thrilling fashion at Hong Kong’s Season Finale at Sha Tin last Sunday as Zac Purton claimed his second title, sealing the result with victory on Rise High in the Class 1 Sha Tin Mile Trophy Handicap.

Purton ended with a tally of 136 wins for the season, compared to runner-up Joao Moreira’s 134. Third-placed Karis Teetan rode 52 winners.

“It’s been a long, damp day,” a visibly-relieved Purton said as he returned to the jockeys’ room in the moments after claiming victory in the champion jockey race.

“It’s good to finally put it to bed, it’s a relief. Joao’s a fierce competitor and we both gave it our absolute all. It’s what everyone expected, that it would come down to the last four races, and I feel like I can finally enjoy the rest of the day now that it’s over.”

Purton, who had won his first title in 2013/14, entered the 11-race season finale meeting four wins ahead of rival and defending champion Moreira. However, the Brazilian struck the first blow, winning the opener and riding a treble on the day.

Moreira would later add wins on the Tony Millard-prepared Bold Stitch and Superich for Frankie Lor, but by then, it was too late; Purton, who had relinquished the title to Moreira in 2014/15 and then finished a distant second to the Magic Man as he set new benchmarks in 2015/16 and 2016/17, had finally prevailed.

TENSE

“I thought I was going to be able to win it quite comfortably, but then Joao seemed to get a second wind,” Purton said. “It’s been a tense last month, he’s often had the better book of rides and I’ve just had to hope that I could hold on – that was the case today.

“I think this is sweeter than the first one. I always thought I was going to win the first one, it was very comfortable for most of the season, but this one I never really looked likely so it is definitely sweet to come from behind Joao and beat him.”

RAPTUROUS

Moreira will depart for Japan after today’s meeting and received a rapturous reception from fans in the Sha Tin parade ring.

“The relationship I have with the fans here in Hong Kong is something special and I really do love them all,” the Brazilian said. “All of these great times I’ve had over here, including today, it is something that I won’t just remember but it’s something that will always sit in my heart.

“Zac deserved to win the premiership, I think he worked harder than me to be honest and he’s also got the right support and made good use of it. But it’s been an amazing season for me and I can’t be disappointed.”

RISING HIGHER

The Caspar Fownes-trained Rise High looks to have some of Hong Kong’s biggest races on his radar after taking the traditional end-of-season feature, the Sha Tin Mile Trophy.

Rise High was coming off two eye-catching wins and only added to his burgeoning reputation with a length and three-quarter success over Group 1 winner Rivet, who produced his best run since his arrival in Hong Kong.

“Obviously, he’s a progressive horse, it was just a matter of whether he was going to handle the track today,” Purton said. “Caspar had given him a little bit of an easy time since his last run so, with the ground the way it is, he might have just been a little soft as well. But he showed his class today and every start he’s having, his race brain is getting better – he’s relaxing better, he’s helping himself out now instead of working against himself.”

Almost 32,000 spectators flocked to Sha Tin for the season finale meeting, which brought the Hong Kong term to an end after 88 racedays and 807 races.

CHAMPION AWARDS

Horse of the Year:

Beauty Generation

Champion Jockey: 

Zac Purton

Tony Cruz Award - leading homegrown rider: 

Derek Leung

Champion Trainer: 

John Size

Most Admired

Overseas Horse: Winx.

A season of robust growth

WORLD-class sport and incredible global growth underpinned a memorable 2017/18 racing season in Hong Kong, which with overall turnover of HK$124.2 billion, representing a 5.8% increase on the previous season.

The final day’s turnover came in at HK$1.938 billion, the highest ever for an 11-race card, while commingling for the day set a record at HK$335 million, a total at £32.2 million, around the same amount that the UK wagers on each day of Royal Ascot.

The total turnover for the season, £11.9 billion, is almost three times the amount bet on racing in Britian, where last season’s figure came in at £4.3 billion (HK$44.8 billion).

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, chief executive officer at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “We are delighted with another record season, one of our most exciting seasons both on and off the track. That excitement reached a thrilling climax this afternoon, with Zac Purton holding off Joao Moreira’s final push to win the jockeys’ championship. It is extremely competitive and exciting; we have world-class jockeys from right across the globe, world-class trainers, horses sourced from all over the world.”

The CEO emphasised the Club’s strong financial position: “Our total gross margin of HK$5.48 billion is an increase of 6.3%. Our contribution as Hong Kong’s biggest taxpayer once again topped HK$13 billion for the second time, demonstrating the importance of racing to the Hong Kong community.”

Much of the growth across the season was due to the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s strategic positioning as a global commingling hub. The total amount wagered with commingling partners reached HK$16.5 billion; a massive increase of 154.8% on last season’s HK$6.5 billion.

Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “Commingling is quickly changing the global landscape and that is seen in the fact that it made up 13.3% of our season’s turnover this year compared to 5.5% last year.

Today, we reached a new record of HK$335 million for a single race meeting, a truly extraordinary mark. It is now a significant driver to Hong Kong’s turnover and that is due to the ever-increasing international interest in our racing product, which is proving to be attractive as an exciting sports option founded upon the highest integrity.”

Also noted was the increase in simulcast turnover, with Hong Kong bettors wagering HK$3.94 billion on races from abroad, up 12% on the previous season.

He said: “This trend comes at a time when our customers are showing a greater appreciation for international racing. The time is right for us to launch our World Pool concept, beginning with Royal Ascot next year, which will offer a strong value proposition to customers in the UK and Hong Kong, and further strengthen our position as the international hub of commingling.

“We saw exciting performances from the likes of Pakistan Star, Time Warp, Ivictory, Mr Stunning and Ping Hai Star, and Highland Reel’s performance in winning a second Longines Hong Kong Vase to end his career was a truly memorable moment. As for next season, we have some very good four-year-olds coming through the grades and I think we will see plenty from them.”

Engelbrecht-Bresges said that Hong Kong’s feature meetings, the Longines Hong Kong International Races in December and Champions Day in April, will continue to grow in the season ahead, which will offer overall prize money of HK$1.22 billion across its 88 race meetings, an increase of 5% on this term.

“The Longines Hong Kong International Races continues to be one of the highlights on the world racing calendar and we are making further steps to ensure it remains the Turf World Championships,” he said. “We have raised the Longines Hong Kong International Races purse to a combined HK$93 million, which is a 10% increase.

“We are also very excited by the emergence of Champions Day, which proved a great success with our Champion Sprinter (Ivictory), Champion Miler (Beauty Generation) and Champion Stayer (Pakistan Star) winning the three feature races. We will further expand this by announcing a new sponsor soon.”