Zac Purton secured his sixth Hong Kong jockeys’ title at Sha Tin on Sunday, clinching the championship with seven meetings remaining on this season’s calendar.

Champion jockey for the fifth time in the past six campaigns – Joao Moreira’s fourth title in 2020-21 was the one that eluded Purton – the Australian superstar moved mathematically out of Vincent Ho Chak-yiu’s reach when John Size-trained galloper Tuchel won the Group Three Premier Plate (1,800m).

Purton, bidding to break Moreira’s single-season record of 170 wins that his Brazilian rival established in 2016-17, joins Hong Kong icon Tony Cruz on half a dozen jockeys’ championships.

“It’s always good to be in the same company as him,” Purton said when informed he had drawn level with Cruz on six titles. “He’s certainly a legend.”

The only jockeys with more titles than Purton are South African pair Douglas Whyte (13) and Basil Marcus (seven) and Australia’s Gary Moore (seven).

“Every championship, you’re faced with different obstacles. Different things get thrown at you, so none of them is easy. I appreciate this one as much as the others,” said Purton, who also won the 2013-14, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22 titles.

Tuchel was the second leg of Purton’s twilight five-timer that lifted his tally of victories this season to 160 as he continues to close in on Moreira’s mark.

The Premier Plate was Tuchel’s breakthrough triumph at black-type level, and Purton felt the slow tempo of the Group Three event – the winner’s time was 2.57 seconds slower than standard – benefited the Classic Mile and Derby (2,000m) runner-up.

“I think it helped him. He’s a little bit suspect at 1,800m. He had the weight advantage against the other horses, and he’s got a good turn of foot. I think it played into our hands,” Purton said after Tuchel defeated Cruz’s The Best Peach by half a length.

Purton won both feature races on his championship-clinching day aboard Size-prepared youngsters. Two hours before Tuchel took out the Premier Plate, Beauty Eternal won the Group Three Premier Cup (1,400m) to register his second stakes success.

The Premier Cup was another black-type contest run at a pedestrian pace, with Beauty Eternal beating Circuit Stellar by a neck in a winning time 1.06 seconds outside the benchmark for the class.

“They backed the speed off mid-race,” Purton said after dismounting Beauty Eternal. “My bloke wanted to do too much – he was pulling himself into the ground – and they made it a sprint home. All these good horses can run home in good sectionals, so you’re never going to gap them in those circumstances.”

The victories of Size-trained novice Helios Express in the Class Three Lapis Lazuli Handicap (1,200m) and a couple of Pierre Ng Pang-chi-prepared gallopers, Greenwich in the Class Four Emerald Handicap (1,200m) and Taj Dragon in the Class Three Sapphire Handicap (1,400m), rounded out Purton’s quintet on the 10-race card.

With 66 races left on the programme before this term ends at Sha Tin on July 16, Purton requires 11 more wins to surpass Moreira’s record.

Teetan joins illustrious company with 600th Hong Kong win

Size’s treble of Tuchel, Beauty Eternal and Helios Express extended his advantage over Frankie Lor Fu-chuen in this season’s trainers’ championship race to nine – 71 wins for Size to 62 wins for Lor.