HONG KONG – By mid-April of 2017, Joao Moreira had ridden 134 winners during the Hong Kong season, an amazing 64 victories more than closest pursuer Zac Purton. A year later, there is quite a competition between the two. Approaching Sunday’s 10-race program at Sha Tin Racecourse, which includes three seven-figure Group 1 turf races, Moreira has won 97 races, seven more than Purton. The standings tightened Wednesday when Purton won five of eight races at Happy Valley Racecourse. The jockey title may not be decided until the Hong Kong season ends in July. “We’ve got 22 meetings left,” Purton said Friday. “I’m seven behind. I’ve got a mountain to climb. I’d prefer to be in front. I’ll give it a go.” Moreira, a 34-year-old native of Brazil, has won three consecutive riding titles in Hong Kong after finishing second in his first season on this circuit in 2013-14. In the 2016-17 season, Moreira rode a record 170 winners. Purton, a 35-year-old Australian, was leading rider in Hong Kong in 2013-14. Sunday, both riders have mounts in all 10 races, and the standings might change by the end of the day. Not surprisingly, both have excellent chances in Sunday’s three Group 1 races – the $3.05 million Queen Elizabeth II Cup, the $2.29 million Champions Mile, and the $2.04 million Chairman’s Sprint Prize. Moreira and Purton have the first two choices in the Queen Elizabeth II. Moreira is on Ping Hai Star, and Purton rides Time Warp. Ping Hai Star, winner of the Hong Kong Derby on March 18, will be a slight favorite. Ryan Moore rode Ping Hai Star in the Hong Kong Derby after Moreira opted to ride Nothingilikemore, who finished 11th. “I’ve had a great association with this horse before the derby, and I didn’t ride him,” Moreira said. “I thought I stayed on the right horse, and I didn’t.” A New Zealand-bred, Ping Hai Star has won his last four starts. Both the Hong Kong Derby and the Queen Elizabeth II Cup are at 1 1/4 miles. “Now we go the same distance against stronger horses,” Moreira said. “If he finishes like he did in the derby, I think he can pass the leaders.” Time Warp will be the horse to catch. He won the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup at 1 1/4 miles on turf against an international field Dec. 10, the first time Purton was aboard the 5-year-old gelding. Time Warp was 10th in the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy at a mile around one turn April 8, and the longer distance Sunday should help his chances, Purton said. “I’m at a loss to explain it,” Purton said of the recent defeat. “He’s getting back to 2,000 meters and he’s more comfortable going around two corners than one. I’m more hopeful than comfortable at this time.” The two riders have horses with opposite styles in the Champions Mile. Purton will be on Beauty Generation, who is expected to lead from the rail, while Moreira will have Seasons Bloom racing from off the pace. Beauty Generation, a 5-year-old gelding, won the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile against an international field in December. Beauty Generation was fifth in the Grade 2 Chairman’s Trophy on April 8 when ridden by Douglas Whyte. Purton is quick to mention Beauty Generation carried 128 pounds that day, while most of his rivals carried 123 pounds. “It’s good to be back on him,” Purton said. “I think he’s got a big chance. “Our plan would be to go out on the lead. I expect a bit of pressure. You never like to have pressure on you. He’s been able to roll along at a good tempo and get in his rhythm.” Seasons Bloom was third in the Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup on Feb. 25. Moreira said he does not want to leave Seasons Bloom with too much to do in the Champions Mile. “Hopefully, he can show what he’s capable of doing,” Moreira said. “It will be a tactical race. It will be a concern for me if I turn for home too far away.” Moreira will ride the ultra-consistent Beat the Clock in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize. A 4-year-old gelding, Beat the Clock has finished in the first three in all 14 of his starts in Hong Kong, including a nose win over Mr Stunning in the Group 2 Sprint Cup at six furlongs April 8. Purton rides Ivictory, who will make his stakes debut after winning his last four starts – all with Moreira aboard. Purton has never ridden Ivictory. Choosing between Beat the Clock and Ivictory was not easy, Moreira said. Those two are among five runners in the field of nine trained by John Size, who also starts expected favorite Mr Stunning, the mount of Sam Clipperton. “Ivictory has been a very good horse for me,” Moreira said. “I had to pick one. “I tried to concentrate on how both horses have been racing and winning, and the classes they have raced, and the horses each have been beating. “Beat the Clock beat some of the best sprinters in Hong Kong. Ivictory could prove me wrong. I don’t think there will be much between them.” Ivictory, a 4-year-old Australian-bred gelding, won a minor handicap at six furlongs at Happy Valley on March 7. He set a fast pace and won by 2 3/4 lengths as a heavy favorite. Purton had a great view of Ivictory’s win. He rode runner-up California Whip, who was never far from the lead. “I thought he would fall in a hole and I thought I would, too,” Purton said, a reference to the horses tiring from setting the fast pace. “He took off like a rocket. “He could be the best sprinter in Hong Kong. It’s a matter of the pressure of a Group 1 and coming up against the seasoned Group 1 horses.” The Chairman’s Sprint Prize field has two international stakes winners in Fine Needle, from Japan, and Blue Point, a stakes winner at Meydan Racecouse in Dubai last month. Ivictory has won from off the pace and has drawn well in post 7 in a field of eight. Hong Kong’s official ratings list Ivictory at 95, or 34 points lower than Mr Stunning, the top-rated horse in Hong Kong. “He’s a long ways out of the ratings,” Purton said of Ivictory. “Looking at that, you can’t give him a chance. I don’t think that tells the story.” Moreira knows he faces a challenge from Purton through the final months of the season. “Zac is riding very well,” he said. “He’s a very good jockey. He deserves to win as many races as he is. “I’m not going to give up. I’ll push to the end.”