The rules of the International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) put Zac Purton on Silver Sonic during Happy Valley’s biggest night of the year, and Francis Lui Kin-wai has chosen to stick with the Australian rider due to the enforced absences of the gelding’s previous partners.

With Silver Sonic’s regular jockey, Harry Bentley, continuing his two-month suspension and Lui’s most frequent collaborator, Vincent Ho Chak-yiu, missing one meeting as punishment for his careless riding of December 23 winner Joyful Hunter, Purton has retained the seat aboard the last-start victor for Friday night’s Class Three Pak Tam Au Handicap (1,650m).

For two of Hong Kong racing’s heavyweights, Purton and Lui do not team all up that often – for example, just 33 times in the past one and a bit seasons – but they have outperformed the market as a combination in three of the past four campaigns for a positive return on investment to level stakes of roughly 32 per cent.

That Purton and Lui are showing a profit as a duo again this term – four victories from 11 starts to be more than 54 per cent ahead of the game – is in no small part down to Silver Sonic, under whom the Australian rider earned maximum points in the IJC third leg at $9.25.

“It was a good performance,” Lui said of Silver Sonic, who beat Quantum Patch by one and a half lengths at Happy Valley on December 6. “I think he would have learned a lot from his win last time. Zac is back on. I’m looking forward to him running again.

“He’s a horse who needs every situation to fall right. He needs to travel comfortably and not get caught out wide, otherwise, he just doesn’t know how to turn.”

Silver Sonic should travel close to the rail from gate two as he reopposes six of his IJC opponents – Quantum Patch, All Beauty, Star Contact, Storm Legend, D Star and Sixth Generation – and runs back into Tourbillon Prince, a fellow last-start winner behind whom he finished on his disappointing run two starts ago.

Friday night’s Pak Tam Au Handicap will be the first Hong Kong race in which Silver Sonic has carried a significant weight, but he lugged 130 pounds to win his Australian maiden at Sandown Hillside for the combination of Craig Williams and Chris Waller.

Silver Sonic is not the only shared interest of Purton and Lui at the year’s final meeting, with High Rise Soldier bringing them together for the second section of the Class Four Pat Sin Leng Handicap (1,200m).

High Rise Soldier, a four-time course-and-distance winner, has slid down the ratings since he won an April contest under Ho off a three-point higher mark. Purton has ridden High Rise Soldier six times for one win and three minor placings, but they have not paired up since their Class Three triumph in February 2022.

Gate 11 is likely to be a considerable barrier to High Rise Soldier returning to winning days following nine consecutive losses across both turf tracks over distances ranging from 1,000m to 1,650m.

Lui, who bagged a Boxing Day double to narrow the gap between him and trainers’ championship leader Pierre Ng Pang-chi to 15 wins, has six runners on Friday night, while Purton has seven rides on the card.