Zac Purton has made history at Sha Tin, becoming the first jockey to ride 2,000 winners in Hong Kong after guiding two-year-old debutant Rising World to victory in the opening race of the day yesterday. 

The 43-year-old Australian reached the milestone on his 11,229th ride in the city, finishing a short head in front of Almighty Warrior to complete one of the most remarkable careers in the history of Asian racing.

Purton arrived in Hong Kong as a fresh-faced 24-year-old in 2007, riding his first winner at Happy Valley aboard Elfhelm in September of that year. Nearly two decades later, he has reshaped every major record in the sport. 

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He surpassed the previous record of 1,813 wins – held by South African legend Douglas Whyte – in January 2025. The only other jockeys in Hong Kong history to ride more than 1,000 winners are Whyte and Brazilian superstar Joao Moreira.

His record stretches far beyond the numbers. Purton has won eight Hong Kong jockeys’ championships, is the only rider to have won all 12 of Hong Kong’s Group One races, and has claimed 35 elite-level victories in total.

He has won the BMW Hong Kong Derby twice, with Luger in 2015 and Massive Sovereign in 2024. His 2022/23 season remains the greatest in Hong Kong racing history, when he rode 179 winners to beat Moreira’s single-season record of 170.

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His most celebrated recent partnership has been with Ka Ying Rising, one of the world’s best sprinters, whom he has ridden to a Hong Kong record 20 consecutive wins.

After the race, Purton kept it characteristically light. “At least I’m not going to have to go home tonight and listen to Cash say, ‘Why didn’t you have a winner today, Daddy?’ So we’ve had the winner, and he’s got the trophy – job done,” he said, referring to his young son.