Zac Purton reached his benchmark figure of 100 wins for an eighth consecutive season and the ninth time overall after a brilliant four-timer at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Surging towards a seventh Hong Kong jockeys’ championship, the star Australian rider landed his best winning haul since his six victories on January 28.

He booted home La Forza, Bottomuptogether and Aestheticism before notching his 100th triumph this term in a demolition job on emerging star Ka Ying Rising.

“At the start of the season, 100 wins is always the benchmark – if you get to there, you have had a good season, so it’s nice to get there again and on a progressive horse, too,” Purton said.

Ka Ying Rising again left an impression on Purton after cantering to an effortless two-and-a-half length victory in the Class Two Brandy Snap Handicap (1,200m).

Purton had time to look over his shoulder multiple times as the David Hayes-trained speedster surged clear of his rivals in the final 200m.

“He’s done a really good job, he’s always been a little bit lightly framed and giving him the break between runs has really helped him,” Purton said.

“He was a lot calmer today, which is good. He’s still not the finished horse and he’s going to develop a bit more. We’re going to have some fun with him.”

Richards ends long drought

Purton’s win on La Forza was a crucial one for trainer Jamie Richards, who was without doubt the most relieved man at Sha Tin after ending his frustrating winning drought of 79 runners.

Winless since March 20 with 13 placegetters in that streak, the Kiwi handler finally returned to the winner’s enclosure when La Forza struck in the Argonaut Plate (1,000m) for Griffins.

After going close when runner-up to Thunder Blink in the first Griffin race of the season, La Forza went one better to salute as the $1.6 favourite.

“It’s been a frustrating time, but that’s Hong Kong,” Richards said. “You’ve just got to keep turning up, keep your chin up and it’ll turn at some stage.

“[It’s] particularly satisfying [with La Forza], because the owner sent us down to the [Sydney] yearling sales with some money to spend and this was the one we thought was going to be a nice Griffin horse here in Hong Kong. He’s fronted up and done the job, so really satisfying.”

After setting the speed on debut before being cut down late, La Forza took a trail at his second start to settle fourth and the move paid off.

Purton urged the Toronado two-year-old forward at the 300m and he responded strongly to overhaul Run Yes Run by half a length.

Richards added cheek pieces to La Forza’s gear to help him focus better and was impressed by the gelding’s improvement second up.

“He went down fighting the other day and was probably ridden better today with a little bit of cover,” Richards said.

“We’ll just see how he does, we’ve got a little bit of time to get him ready for the next [Griffin race]. He’s still quite an immature horse, this is only the start of hopefully a successful career for him. We’ll just take it step by step.”

Bottoms up for Lor

Frankie Lor Fu-chuen unveiled a talented newcomer when Bottomuptogether made a spectacular debut in the Class Four Isle Of Man Handicap (1,000m).

Unbeaten from three trials leading up to his first race start, the Shamus Award gelding showed big potential when stalking the speed and surging clear late to score by a length and a half.

He is a full brother to Beauty Live, a five-time winner for Lor.

“He trialled three times and won all three and he went smoothly there,” Lor said.

“He’s got early speed and it was nice for him to win the race. I hope he can keep improving. His full brother is Beauty Live and he’s used to 1,400m or 1,600m, but [Bottomuptogether] is young and has early speed so we thought we’d try 1,000m.

“I was a little bit worried because I wasn’t sure if he would get to the front too early and start looking around, but he did OK.”

Hong Kong ‘likely’ for Rebel

Charlie Appleby says Rebel’s Romance will “most likely” travel to Hong Kong for the Group One Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) on May 26.

Godolphin’s quality galloper will add star power to the staying feature, having won his past three starts including the Group One Dubai Sheema Classic (2,400m) at Meydan last start.

“Obviously he’s been the star of the winter, winning [the H.H. The Amir Trophy] in Qatar and going on to win the Sheema Classic,” Appleby said in an update on his Godolphin runners on Saturday.

“He’s come out of it in great order. He’s a six-year-old now, so he’s going to carry on doing his travelling duties for the summer. He’s most likely to head to Hong Kong for the Champions & Chater. He’s been a model of consistency throughout his career and it would be a new adventure for him travelling to the Far East in Hong Kong.”