As Zac Purton eyes a slice of history at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, the man whose monumental record is about to be broken has paid tribute to his former arch rival.

With 1,812 wins, Purton needs just one more to tie Douglas Whyte’s all-time record in Hong Kong and two to break it when he takes seven rides at the city circuit.

“It stood for a long time and as I’ve mentioned before, no better person to take it over than Zac,” said Whyte, who called time on his illustrious career in the saddle in February 2019 to become a trainer.

“He’s a champion in his own right and he’s done a fantastic job over the years. I’ve ridden competitively against him for a long time and he’s improved incrementally year-in, year-out, so he deserves it.”

Whyte, who won a record 13 consecutive Hong Kong jockeys’ championships, and Purton were fierce rivals as the latter launched himself to the top of the city’s riding ranks.

“I think he came here and took a bit of time to find his feet,” Whyte said of Purton, who was 24 when he arrived in Hong Kong for the 2007-08 season.

“He learnt that it takes more than just to get on a horse. He’s working hard, he does his form and he’s very good at that. He’s fit and he turns up day in and day out. Those are the things it takes to breaks records.”

Purton will bid to break Whyte’s benchmark when he rides Spirit Of Peace, Beauty Alliance, Sight Happy, Firefoot, Aestheticism, Riding Together and View Of The World at the Valley.

While none of those rides are for Whyte, the South African handler boasts a solid team of seven runners on Wednesday night.

However, his pursuit of adding to his 10 wins this campaign was dealt a blow when he copped wide draws with Double Show (barrier 12), Brave Of Friends (nine), Gameplayer Elite (11), Happy Trio (seven), Young Arrow (12) and King Eccellente (eight).

“The gods at Happy Valley clearly don’t want me to have winners there,” Whyte said.

Prince Alex was Whyte’s only runner to draw a low barrier, with the Animal Kingdom gelding to jump from gate two in the second section of the Class Four Morse Park Handicap (1,650m).

After recording back-to-back Valley wins at the end of 2024, Prince Alex came up short in his bid for a hat-trick when fifth to Embraces last start.

“He’s probably the only horse that has a good gate on the night, which he’ll benefit from,” Whyte said.

“The quicker they go, the better for him. He’s not a stop-start horse, he’s a grinder. Things didn’t work out for him last time, whereas the time before he got rolling and got his momentum up and that’s what he needs.”

King Eccellente will be chasing consecutive wins in the second section of the Class Three Victoria Park Handicap (1,200m), fresh from a barnstorming 1,000m triumph on Boxing Day.

“He’s going up in grade and he’s consistent as the day is long, so he’ll present himself as best as he can,” Whyte said of the four-time winner from 32 starts.

King Eccellente bumps into a strong field headlined by last-start Valley winners Eternal Fortune and View Of The World, who will have strong claims for Purton after a dominant victory at the course and distance on Boxing Day.

Young Arrow’s outside draw in the first section of the Victoria Park Handicap will make his task tough, but the former Singapore galloper is coming off an eye-catching third to Eternal Fortune.

“It was fantastic, he ran well,” Whyte said. “He’s got gate 12 this time, which is just not what he needed. Anyway, we’ll leave it to Harry [Bentley] and see what he can do.”