Zac Purton has returned from a well-earned break in Indonesia and is in preparation mode as he looks forward to riding Ka Ying Rising on Sha Tin’s season opening day on September 6.

Purton will jump aboard David Hayes’ nine-time Group One winner as they look to extend their 20-win streak in the Group Three HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (1,200m) before defending their A$20 (HK$111.47 million) Group One The Everest crown at Randwick in October.

“I’m very excited to ride Ka Ying Rising, very excited to get back on him again this week – he trials Friday. David’s very happy with him, the horse looks great from all the videos I’ve seen,” Purton said.

“Hopefully we can have another good season with him and start off here in Hong Kong, go to Australia, and keep doing what we did last season. It certainly gives me something to look forward to.”

The nine-time Hong Kong champion jockey was able to enjoy a good rest, but still managed to maintain a decent level of fitness throughout the off-season.

“I’ve got a little bit of work to do, but that’s natural, I always give my body a bit of a break during the off-season. But I did keep fairly busy, obviously riding horses, swimming, and at Bawah Reserve they had a nice hiking trail, so I ran that a couple of times,” Purton said.

Purton returned to Sha Tin for his first trackwork session of the season on Saturday morning, where he galloped Rising Phoenix on the all-weather track for David Hall.

“I feel like I’m all right, but of course there’s some work to do, and that just builds up day by day. Riding work and barrier trials certainly helps. There’s nothing like riding a horse to get ready for a race – it can’t be replicated doing anything else – I’ll keep increasing the exercise as we go along,” Purton said.

Purton was able to make the most of his holiday in Indonesia, highlighted by time at Nihi Sumba and Bawah Reserve.

“The two highlights I would say were riding the sandalwood ponies at Nihi Sumba along the beach and through the villages and the rice fields, which was a good experience for the kids, because here in Hong Kong they’re stuck riding in an arena, so it was good to get them out in the open and riding in a more natural environment. And we really enjoyed our time at Bawah Reserve, great island; the staff were terrific, food was great, water was good, there’s a lot to like about that place,” Purton said.

Orman enjoys family success

James Orman was back to winning ways in Queensland when celebrating a double at Eagle Farm last Wednesday, highlighted by a victory aboard Beat The Rap who is owned and trained by his mother Caroline Allardyce.

The lightly-raced seven-year-old scored a breakthrough victory in the Geldings and Entires Maiden Plate (1,200m) after placing at his only two career starts as a six-year-old.

Orman was thrilled to salute for his mother, as well as Tony Gollan when winning the Benchmark 68 Sky Racing Handicap (1,200m) aboard Midnight Spirit.

“It was great to be back – kept my fitness up and it was awesome to get a winner for mum,” Orman said.

The three-time Queensland premiership-winning jockey was also stoked to have his old spot back in the jockeys’ room, before returning to Hong Kong on Sunday evening where he’ll look to improve on the impressive 32 wins he recorded in the 2025–26 season.

“Yes I was lucky enough to get my old seat back, can’t wait to get back to Hong Kong though,” Orman said.

Bowman picks up Group One ride

Hugh Bowman will ride the Chris Waller-trained Fangirl in Saturday’s Group One Winx Stakes at Randwick.

The eight-year-old will vie for a fifth Group One win, and second under Bowman who piloted her to a debut Group One victory in the 2022 Vinery Stud Stakes.

The Australian jockey has enjoyed plenty of success in the Winx Stakes, previously named the Warwick Stakes, when guiding Waller’s champion mare Winx to glory in the event on three consecutive occasions, as well as on Royal Descent in 2015. Bowman went on to score 25 Group One wins with Winx, who had the race renamed in her honour in 2018.

Bowman re-familiarised himself with Fangirl when riding her in a trial at Randwick on Saturday and placing fifth over 850m.

Fangirl currently sits at $11 in overseas markets, with stablemate Autumn Glow boasting a stranglehold on betting at $1.4.

Champ de Mars welcome Hewitson and Teetan

Lyle Hewitson and Karis Teetan enjoyed a day trackside at Champ de Mars Racecourse in Mauritius, supporting Hewitson’s father Carl who trained Tamarisk Tree to take out Group Two glory in the Golden Cup (2,200m) for the Paul Foo Kune Stable.

Tamarisk Tree started as favourite and secured back-to-back wins when piloted by stable jockey Manoel Nunes, and in doing so broke the track record in a time of 2:13.73.