Dollar Earnings Don't Tell Hong Kong Story

A cursory glance at the current season's jockey earnings in Hong Kong would have one believing there's a hair's-breadth between jockeys Joao Moreira and incumbent champion Zac Purton, however it's illusory. Up until and including New Year's Day, Moreira sits on HK$75,685,000 for stakes won, versus the HK$73,099,500 garnered by Purton. That's where the similarities stop. Moreira, who holds a slender lead in the Territory's Black Type Premiership (just two points clear of Karis Teetan) is a quantum leap ahead of his rivals based on winners ridden in 2020-2021.  The Magic Man's 63 winners are a full 50 percent higher than the 42 of Purton who, in turn is well clear of Vincent Ho (28) and Karris Teetan (27). At Wednesday's Happy Valley race meeting, Moreira gets an opportunity to open a bigger lead in the BTP when riding lightly weighted Reliable Team in the Gr3 January Cup (1800m) – see below. The popular rider has mounts in eight of the nine events, only sitting out Race 8.