Brazilian import Sagacious Life leapt into contention for Zac Purton’s Classic Mile ride of choice after continuing a strong start to his Hong Kong career with a fighting victory at Sha Tin on Sunday.

After Sagacious Life proved too strong for several Classic Mile hopefuls in the Class Two Leighton Handicap (1,600m), trainer Pierre Ng Pang-chi revealed the son of Put It Back had surged into Purton’s consideration for the first leg of the four-year-old series on February 1.

“Everyone’s chasing him. He told me he’s only down to two,” Ng said, with Purton’s other option the exciting Mark Newnham-trained Invincible Ibis.

“At least I’ve got a 50 per cent chance.”

Purton rode Sagacious Life in a race for the first time on Sunday and was suitably impressed when he made it two wins from three local starts.

“It was a really good effort for a young horse to carry a big weight in that case,” Purton said after Sagacious Life overcame top weight of 130lb.

“Of course, he was in the right spot, had the right run, but he still had to get the job done.”

Sent off the $3.5 favourite, Sagacious Life was perfectly placed one-out and one-back before Purton peeled him out three wide on the turn.

He edged past Soleil Fighter at the 200m and kept on strongly to beat that galloper by three-quarters of a length, with another Classic Mile prospect Top Dragon two lengths behind in third after being held up for clear running at a crucial stage in the straight.

Of the other four-year-olds in the race, Windlord ran a solid fifth on his Hong Kong debut for Cody Mo Wai-kit while fellow imports Daryl Flash (seventh) and Winfield (ninth), who won Brazil’s Group One Jockey Club de São Paulo (2,000m) from Sagacious Life in 2024, failed to fire in their local debuts.

Sagacious Life, who stormed home for a brilliant 1,600m success on his Hong Kong debut in October, will boast the highest rating of the four-year-olds bound for the Classic Mile, with his figure set to hit at the mid 90s after Sunday’s triumph.

“Straight to the Classic Mile – that’s our plan. He’s got the rating already,” Ng said.

“We tried to put as light a pressure on him as possible and he handled it brilliantly. We’ve got pressure off our back and look forward to the next one.

“He’s got very good form and you always trust the rating – the highest-rated horse does well in those kind of races [like the Classic Mile]. He still needs to be a little bit mature – when he’s parading he’s still looking around and a bit toey. If we get that out of him, he’ll be much nicer.

“From the first race in Hong Kong, I did think he would go further but now he’s won twice in mile races. I still think he goes further – definitely 1,800m and 2,000m will be his best trips.”

The second leg of the four-year-old series, the Classic Cup (1,800m), is on March 1, with the final leg, the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2,000m), on March 22.

Sagacious Life racked up four wins and two seconds from six pre-import starts, with his Group One Grande Premio Derby Paulista (2,400m) on his final Brazilian start the highlight.

Purton finished Sunday’s meeting with a double after also booting home Ricky Yiu Poon-fai’s Victory Sky.