Zac Purton is confident he’ll shake off the flu that stopped him in his tracks on Wednesday in time for his bumper book of rides at Randwick on Saturday, but the star Australian admits his push for Joao Moreira’s single-season record is wobbling.

Purton withdrew from his final six commitments at Sha Tin on Wednesday, but he’ll fly to Australia on Thursday, take his nine rides in Sydney on Saturday – which include big Group One mounts aboard favourites Giga Kick (T J Smith Stakes) and Mr Brightside (Doncaster Mile) – and return to Sha Tin for a full book of 10 assignments on Sunday.

While throughout the season Purton has been on track to mow down Moreira’s 2016-17 mark of 170 victories, his midweek blank – his one ride finished 12th – means he’s now behind the asking rate and requires a touch more than two wins a meeting to reach 171.

While he does have the luxury of Hugh Bowman’s absence for the next two Hong Kong fixtures while his countryman remains in Sydney to sort some personal matters while riding at both days of The Championships, Purton concedes he’ll need more than that to get things back on track.

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“I can’t get there anyway, the way I’m going. I don’t have the support to get there,” said Purton, who sits on 108 wins with 31 of the 88 meetings remaining.

“It’s not just Hughie, you’ve got [Karis] Teetan, [Silvestre] de Sousa, Vincent Ho [Chak-yiu] getting a lot of support, so I’m just not getting the quality of rides I need. It’s as simple as that.”

Two wins a meeting, provided he rode in them all, would see Purton equal Moreira’s mark, but it’s the massive days he’s made a habit of rolling out that will keep him in the hunt.

While the man himself is nothing if not realistic, only a fool would write him off this far out. Last time he went to Sydney, Purton snared both Group One races on the card.

If he cleans up again on Saturday, who’s to say he won’t come charging back to Sha Tin with a full head of steam and turn what looks a so-so book of rides into a five-timer?

Lucky Yeung not wavering

While Keith Yeung Ming-lun concedes he was “even luckier this time” after his second fall in eight days at Sha Tin on Sunday, the likeable jockey is adamant he has “no concerns at all” as he sets his sights on a return to the saddle in the coming weeks.

Yeung admitted he “was very lucky indeed” when, on March 19, he walked away virtually unscathed after Royal Agility crashed through the running rail in the home straight and Yeung landed flat on his back where the Sha Tin turf meets a drain and the service road between the main track and the all-weather surface.

Last weekend, Yeung was speared into the turf after his mount, Felix The King, clipped heels and came down, with the 34-year-old still recovering in Union Hospital.

While Yeung didn’t miss a meeting as a result of his first fall, he expects to be sidelined for about a month after doctors discovered fractures to his C4, C5 and T2 vertebrae following his most recent incident.

He also suffered concussion and experienced memory loss in the hours after his fall from Felix The King, but Yeung is not one bit deterred despite two scary tumbles in such quick succession.

“It doesn’t change anything, I have no concerns at all and I won’t stop riding,” said Yeung, who is studying for a Bachelor of Health Education at the Education University of Hong Kong to give himself options when he does finish riding, whenever that may be.

“I’ll just follow my plan. I’m very lucky. I must have done some things right. I’m god blessed.”