Zac Purton plundered his third four-timer of the season at Sha Tin on Sunday, the highlight of which was exciting speedster Invincible Sage’s win in the Class Two Lukfook Jewellery Handicap (1,000m).

In the week the Jockey Club approved Purton’s request for a leave of absence in early January, the Australian rider extended his lead in the jockeys’ championship to 15 thanks to the victories of Aestheticism, Regent Glory, Toronado Phantom and Invincible Sage.

Purton, the beneficiary of Invincible Sage’s regular jockey, Hugh Bowman, remaining on the sidelines, made no mistake ensuring the progressive galloper completed a course-and-distance hat-trick on his first foray into Class Two company.

“It was a good effort,” Purton said. “He’s a nice little horse, and he’s got potential. He knows what he’s doing.”

Sent off a warm $2.20 favourite for the straight-track sprint, Invincible Sage settled towards the rear of the field behind a slow pace, with the leader covering the first 600m more than six-tenths of a second outside standard time.

After travelling powerfully throughout the contest, Invincible Sage moved to the lead 150m from home, and the son of Thronum finished three-quarters of a length clear of Carroll Street. Stopping the clock at 57.08 seconds, Purton admitted the contest’s sedate early tempo took all of the riders by surprise.

“They didn’t go as fast as we thought they would,” Purton said. “I think they all felt there would be a lot of speed in the race, and they all sat and looked at each other, so I was a bit closer than I thought I would be.

“I had to present him a little bit earlier. The run was there at the time, so he got there earlier than he normally does, and he floated a bit.”

A three-time winner in Australia, Invincible Sage failed to get off the mark on his three local starts last season before saluting on his reappearance in October’s Class Three Hong Kong China’s Asian Games Medallists Cup (1,000m) at Sha Tin.

Invincible Sage backed up that effort three weeks later with a similarly impressive performance, the David Hall-trained gelding defying a 135-pound impost and an interrupted passage to triumph in last month’s Class Three Panasonic 4KTV Handicap (1,000m).

“He’s becoming a bit of a track specialist, but each circumstance has been different in its own way,” Hall said. “Today, they probably didn’t go as fast as I thought they would, so they didn’t string out as much.

“Zac was there quicker than he wanted to be. He was in front and didn’t have anything to chase, so it was a different race, but he had the class to get the win.”

Following Invincible Sage’s victory in Sunday’s feature, which pocketed his connections not only the HK$1,590,400 first prize but also a HK$1.5 million top-up bonus, Hall confirmed he will thrust the talented young sprinter into Group company in next month’s Group Three Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1,000m) at Sha Tin.

“It’s exciting, and it’s always nice to win the Class Two race,” Hall said. “For sure, he’ll run in the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy next.”

The four-year-old gelding’s victory provided the Hall stable with its 16th win this season, while also delivering Purton the third leg of his four-timer.