He is ticking off major milestones quicker than any Hong Kong trainer before him and on Wednesday night, Frankie Lor Fu-chuen banked the 400th win of his prolific career.

Little more than six years after he tasted success with his first Hong Kong runner, Lor reached his quadruple century thanks to Heroic Master’s victory under Karis Teetan in the Class Three Nam Fung Handicap (1,000m) at Happy Valley.

Lor, who broke his former master John Size’s debut-season record with 65 wins in his maiden campaign in 2017-18, scaled rare heights in 2021-22, snaring 90 victories to land his first trainers’ title.

“It’s not easy. I need to say thanks for the stable team – at Conghua and also at Sha Tin – they work really hard. Owners also, without their support, I don’t win 400 races,” said Lor, who now has seven victories this term.

“I won’t count numbers, but always try to win for the owners. Of course, I still want to get on top again – I always try, I always try. There’s a long way to go. It’s just the start of the year.”

Lor’s 400th win came from runner number 3,227 and the 57-year-old has a career strike rate of 12.4 per cent.

While there are, of course, more races now than ever, putting the speed at which Lor is racking up victories into context is the fact he reached 400 wins eight meetings into his seventh season, while 12-time champion trainer Size finished his seventh campaign with 425 successes.

While Lor got there quicker than Size in terms of days, Size did bag 400 wins with 286 fewer runners.

It did not take Lor long to log his 401st victory, sharing the spoils with Caspar Fownes in the Class Three Hong Kong Country Club Challenge Cup (1,200m).

Remarkably, it was the two outsiders in the market who fought out the dead heat, with Lor’s Lucky Archangel ($14) and the Fownes-trained Capital Delight ($16) crossing the line in unison.

The split result also completed a double for the in-form Fownes after the victory of June Planet in the Class Four Shum Wan Handicap (1,650m) a race earlier.

Lor was not the only one to celebrate a significant milestone at the midweek meeting, with rookie trainer Cody Mo Wai-kit breaking through for his first career victory in the night’s final event.

Just Mo’s eighth runner through the first eight meetings of the campaign, Romantic Laos delivered the goods under Zac Purton in the Class Three Wong Chuk Hang Handicap (1,650m).

“I’m very happy, and I want to thank my team and also the owners,” Mo said. “I thought this horse would run well because he trialled well, and I came here tonight feeling good – but I was a bit concerned about having barrier 12. I’m feeling really good and very thankful.”

The victory of Romantic Laos completed a running treble for Purton after the earlier successes of Denfield and Copartner Ambition.

By far the night’s shortest favourite at $1.65, Danny Shum Chap-shing’s Denfield benefited from the initiative of reigning champion jockey Purton to salute in the first section of the Class Four Tai Shue Wan Handicap (1,200m).

Often ridden quietly during his first eight starts, Purton – who was combining with Denfield for the first time – took matters into his own hands from barrier nine and urged the four-year-old to the lead.

Purton managed to give his mount a nice breather through the middle section of the race, ensuring he had enough in the tank to hold off Golden Link and High Percentage in a tight finish.

Purton again combined with Shum in the next event, with Copartner Ambition also leading throughout to snare the second section of the Tai Shue Wan Handicap after being backed into favouritism in the final minutes of betting.

Purton’s treble took him to 13 victories for the season and saw him take a one-win lead over Hugh Bowman in the jockeys’ premiership.