Purton to end Hong Kong season in style

Clint Hutchison

– The final meeting at Happy Valley for the season takes place today and Australian jockey Zac Purton might be the one to follow at the meeting with a stellar book of rides.

The former champion jockey should take a fair bit of beating in Race 4 with Starlight, a galloper

Hong Kong

who has been excellent form for the latter part of this season. He has drawn No 10 or worse on his last three starts and it proved very costly for him, as he probably should have won two of those outings. And although he has drawn poorly again in barrier 10, there seems good pace in this event and with the rail in the “A” position, it can be a little more forgiving for the get-back type runner. He will be Eachway odds and looks a good chance to salute.

The main danger comes from Fox Sunter who has been knocking on the door for a win at recent starts and was quite brave on his last outing when working from a wide draw. Chad Schofield has the luxury of a better draw and providing he can hold a good position is clearly the horse to beat.

Purton has a superb chance to add to his season tally in The Kings Falcon Handicap (Race 6) with Dollar Reward for local handler Danny Shum. It was an eye-catching run this fellow put in when he last competed over the 1200m at Happy Valley when badly held-up for room inside the final 100m.

He and one or two others were not fully tested in the concluding stages and considering it was just his fourth career start, there was enough to suggest he will be hard to beat if he can find a similar contest in the near future, which he has done. Purton teams up with fellow Australian David Hall in the penultimate event with Dr Listening who also appears to be a very solid chance of winning.

He seemed to peak on his run inside the final 50m and deserves credit for the effort in defeat.