Purton keeps rolling
You have to go back two months and 17 meetings to find the last time Purton left the racecourse without a win and while the champion jockey was not in the kind of all-conquering form that has bagged six and four-timers for fun, he still walked home with a win at Sha Tin last night, Wednesday, 12 June, to maintain his streak.
It came on Lucky Win Win for trainer Benno Yung in race three, the Class 5 Tung Wan Handicap (1800m).
Joao Moreira moved to 81 wins for the campaign with a double and is now clear second in the premiership, three ahead of Karis Teetan.
The three-time champion opened proceedings with a smart success in section two of the Tong Fuk Handicap (1650m) on the John Size-trained Remarkable. The gelding nailed his third course and distance win, having dropped to a mark of 52 from 66 at the season’s start.
Moreira made it two when teaming up with the in-form David Hall in race four, section two of the Class 4 Silverstrand Handicap (1200m). The four-year-old stretched away to a two and a quarter-length win, breaking his maiden at start 10.
Trainer Frankie Lor turned to stable apprentice Alfred Chan to guide top-rated Starluck (123lb) to success in section one of the Class 4 Silverstrand Handicap (1200m). The rider rewarded his boss with a tidy three-quarter-length victory, box-seating the lead before switching out in the straight and quickening between runner-up Grand Harbour (122lb) and third-placed Sky Treasure (129lb).
That was the 10lb claimer’s seventh win and his first in a month.
Lor’s Kings Shield, fifth in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot this time last year, finally found his Hong Kong feet at the seventh time of asking. The four-year-old led the field in the Class 3 Lido Handicap (1650m) and dashed clear down the straight to win by four and three-quarter lengths under Derek Leung.