Zac Purton has high hopes Patch Of Stars can continue his impressive progression when the talented four-year-old tackles Saturday’s Class Two Lukfook Jewellery Cup (1,200m) at Sha Tin.
The Manfred Man Ka-leung-trained gelding has risen from a mark of 50 to 86 on his past six starts, which have yielded four victories and a close second.
Fresh from a second-up success in the Class Three Lek Yuen Handicap (1,200m) last start, Patch Of Stars will be tested in Class Two company for the first time against the likes of Lady’s Choice, Dancing Code and fellow last-start winners Storm Rider and Harmony N Blessed.
“Hopefully he can take the next step. He’s been progressing nicely but once you get to this grade, they can all gallop and you really start to find out where you’re at,” Purton said.
“He deserves to be there and hopefully he can measure up.”
Patch Of Stars drops 10lb on his last-start victory to carry 124lb on Saturday, while he has drawn slightly awkwardly in barrier nine.
The son of All Too Hard notched a hat-trick last term over 1,400m, putting him in the frame for a potential Classic Series campaign this season, but Purton was of the opinion he would be better placed over 1,200m.
The champion jockey also feels Patch Of Stars will improve with more racing experience and a potential gear change.
“As he got up in the ratings he was struggling to run the seven furlongs out strongly, so we thought with the extra weight that he was carrying on his back, it might have been easier coming back to six furlongs and as it turns out, it worked and he did win,” Purton said.
“But he did bottom out again towards the line and he’s not going to be able to keep doing that, so maybe he just needs a little bit more time to furnish. He might even be better with blinkers on at some stage as well – I’ve always had that in the back of my mind.
“I haven’t been in a rush to put them on him because he’s just started doing everything right in his races. He was a bit aggressive early on and was in a bit of a hurry to do things. Now that we’ve got him going around a bit better, I don’t want to put blinkers on him and blow his mind, so we’ll just wait until we think we need to use them.”
Georgian Sigma, Gold Tack, Serangoon, Casa Of Honor, Oldtown, Supreme Agility, Packing King, Reliable Profit and Beauty Bolt are Purton’s other rides on Saturday.
In the meantime, the eight-time Hong Kong champion rider will hop back aboard the world’s best sprinter, Ka Ying Rising, in a star-studded dirt trial at Sha Tin on Friday morning.
“It’s exciting. It’s good to have him back,” Purton said of Ka Ying Rising, who won last month’s Group One The Everest (1,200m) at Randwick.
“I galloped him the other morning. He’s very fresh and he feels really good. He needs a trial and it’s a strong trial, so he’s going to have to work.”
Ka Ying Rising will run in Sunday week’s Group Two Jockey Club Sprint (1,200m) before defending his Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) crown next month.
Purton will also ride Triple Crown hero Voyage Bubble in the Group Two Jockey Club Cup (2,000m) and Light Years Charm in the Group Two Jockey Club Mile next week.
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