A pair of jockeys made significant moves up the championship table, a premiership-winning trainer continued his red-hot start to the year and Ka Ying Rising smashed more records in February.

The SCMP analyses the jockeys and trainers who had a month to remember or one to forget, as well as the most outstanding victory and winning ride.

Who’s hot?

It was a rare month when Zac Purton didn’t return the biggest winning haul, with Jerry Chau Chun-lok and Andrea Atzeni sharing that honour with nine winners each.

Striking at 20.45 per cent in February, Chau surged from eighth to fourth in the title standings and took the lead in the race for the Tony Cruz Award.

Atzeni jumped from fifth to third and produced a healthy strike rate of 19.56 per cent.

Purton still managed eight wins, largely thanks to a Sha Tin five-timer last Sunday, while Matthew Poon Ming-fai (seven wins) and Dylan Browne McMonagle (six) were also in top form.

Francis Lui Kin-wai was the pick of the trainers, bagging eight victories from 51 runners for a strike rate of 15.68 per cent. Tony Cruz bounced back from a couple of quiet months to register seven wins while championship leader Caspar Fownes, Ricky Yiu Poon-fai and Frankie Lor Fu-chuen each had six.

Who’s not?

Matthew Chadwick’s winless 2026 continued in February, with the 35-year-old carrying a streak of 93 rides without success into March.

It wasn’t much better for Luke Ferraris, Alexis Badel and Brenton Avdulla who each managed just one triumph for the month.

Like Chadwick, Douglas Whyte has endured a frustrating winless streak with his number of runners since his last victory now up to 85.

Chris So Wai-yin managed just one win in February – a return that could have been better if not for seven seconds, while a rare quiet month for Mark Newnham (two wins) saw him lose the championship lead to Fownes.

Win of the month

Little Paradise had this honour sewn up for his stunning Classic Mile success until Ka Ying Rising’s record-breaking blitz in last Sunday’s Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m).

In breaking Silent Witness’ long-standing record of 17 consecutive wins, the world’s best sprinter smashed the 1,400m Sha Tin record by 0.56 seconds in another jaw-dropping performance.

It was a rare victory where he was pushed out to an extent by Purton, rather than being completely eased down in the final stages, with the rider fulfilling David Hayes’ instructions to make sure he broke the track record.

The three-and-a-half length win saw his rating reach 140 – a figure not seen in Hong Kong since Indigenous in 1998.

Ride of the month

Luke Ferraris has a knack for producing outstanding rides from wide draws and Lucky Ranger was another example of his best work in the saddle.

While being on a young horse with plenty of talent clearly helped, a wide draw in barrier 13 left Ferraris with little room for error.

The young South African crept forward after the start and managed to settle Lucky Ranger one off in midfield, before popping out three wide on the back of Aerovolanic near the 700m.

Looming ominously in the straight, Lucky Ranger soared to the front at the 250m and dashed clear to win by a length.

Atzeni’s ride on Serangoon and Richard Kingscote’s display on Come Fast Fay Fay were other noteworthy rides in February.