Purton comes out of the Woods to complete memorable treble

Australian rider Zac Purton finally got the winning ride he had been chasing from Sean Woods as he sealed a winning treble and the Jockey Challenge honours at Happy Valley last night with a late call up for Lambro.

Lambro landed the night's feature race, the Sports Club Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup, 1,650m, after what Woods described as a 'perfect' ride from Purton at his first engagement for the yard this season when Brett Prebble was struck down by flu.

'I feel sorry for Brett but pleased for Zac as he's been wanting to ride a winner for the stable and things just haven't worked out with the bookings,' said Woods, who admitted that last night's experiment with the extended Valley mile distance might be a one-off for the immediate future.

'He settled at the mile because he was covered up from the good draw and Zac rode him just perfectly. But I would have expected him to be away and gone straightening up with the run he had and instead he was really on empty down to the line.

'It was a cup race which is great for the owner but I think we got away with it rather than proved he could run it out. Especially now he's in Class Two, I think we'll analyse this tomorrow and decide that 1,400m at Sha Tin is more his course.'

In fact, Purton had only 12 rides for Woods last season without placing and is hoping that last night's winning pick-up on Lambro can change things.

'I've been chasing a ride there all season so I'm happy that when I did get one, I was able to make the most of it,' Purton said after completing a hat trick begun by Ricky Yiu Poon-fie-trained Rockalot in the first race and carried on by promising sprinter Sun Trooper for Almond Lee Yee-tat in the third.