An “exhausted” Zac Purton will be having the night off on Wednesday after coming down with an illness.

While the seven-time champion jockey was scheduled to ride seven gallopers on the eight-race all-weather programme at Sha Tin, Purton says he will be taking some time away from the saddle to let his body recover.

“I’ve been sick since the weekend and I haven’t been feeling too great,” Purton said. “I’m just exhausted so I need to have a bit of a rest.

“When you’re constantly wasting and you’re tired and you’re trying to push through, sometimes your body needs a bit of a break.”

Hugh Bowman is the biggest beneficiary of his absence, picking up rides on Silver Destiny and Precision Goal, while Matthew Chadwick (Dragon Air Force), Derek Leung Ka-chun (Hakka Radiance), Matthew Poon Ming-fai (Massive Action), Jerry Chau Chun-lok (Packing Bole) and Keagan de Melo (Fighting Machine) replace Purton on his remaining mounts.

One man who will be at Sha Tin on Wednesday night is Vincent Ho Chak-yiu, with the rider gunning to continue his rich vein of dirt form with six rides.

Ho has returned four wins and six places from only 17 rides on the all-weather this season, one more than Purton and Bowman.

In his bid to maintain his status as the winning-most jockey on the surface for the 2024-25 campaign, the 34-year-old will have a helping hand from the season’s leading dirt trainer, Pierre Ng Pang-chi, with the pair teaming up with Excel Wongchoy in the Class Four Prince of Wales Hospital 40th Anniversary Cup (1,650m).

The in-form four-year-old recorded a dominant two-length win on his penultimate start and found only one rival too strong on his first start over 1,800m on December 1.

Excel Wongchoy jumps from barrier two under Ho, who believes his good form on the dirt is down to a touch of good fortune.

“I guess it just depends on the horses – I’m just lucky to get on horses who are performing on the dirt,” Ho said.

“[Excel Wongchoy is] always in good form but sometimes he needs to have a race that suits him. He’s pretty consistently up there and hopefully the race pans out for him.”

After failing to fire on his first six starts for Ng on the turf, Excel Wongchoy – who won on the Polytrack at Dundalk during his pre-import career in Ireland – showed plenty of promise on his first start on the Sha Tin all-weather to finish fourth in June.

The son of Exceed And Excel followed that up with three encouraging efforts before breaking through in decisive style over the extended mile on November 9.

He will be looking to convert his latest placing into a win on the all-dirt programme, as will Ho’s mount in the Class Three Siu Lek Yuen Handicap (1,200m) – Super Win Dragon.

The Chris So Wai-yin-trained gelding recorded a fifth win in the city first up under Purton and ran with plenty of credit in third on his latest outing with Ho in the saddle.

While Ho hopes the seven-year-old still has some improvement in him, the rider admits he faces a tough task from barrier nine.

“It looks a bit tough for him,” Ho said. “He ran a good place last time so hopefully he can improve from that and be a bit closer. The tricky draw is not ideal but hopefully we can slot in somewhere with cover.”

Ho also hops aboard the Caspar Fownes-trained Perfect Team in the Class Three Yuen Chau Kok Handicap (1,650m), with the galloper looking for a second win in Hong Kong at start 22.

“Perfect Team definitely needs the race to suit, he likes to come from midfield or a little bit behind so he needs to have a nice, smooth race,” Ho said.