Much has happened since Zac Purton stepped off a plane in Hong Kong in 2007 as a fresh-faced 24-year-old with little profile beyond Australia. Nineteen seasons later, the Australian stands alone as the first jockey to ride 2,000 winners in the city, a milestone reached at Sha Tin on Sunday (31 May) that further cemented his place among the giants of Hong Kong racing.
Purton stands surrounded by brimming trophy cabinets, the emblems of over a decade of unparalleled success. But it wasn’t always like this. And his arrival in Hong Kong on that day almost 20 years ago was the start of many years of adversity as he struggled for a foothold in one of the most competitive jurisdictions in world racing.
He entered a jockeys’ room filled with racing legends. Among them was Gerald Mosse, the charismatic French virtuoso whose patient riding style made him a master on the international stage; Felix Coetzee, the fiercely determined South African whose association with the great Silent Witness had assured him of a place in the pantheon of great riders. Then there was Douglas Whyte, the tactically flawless titan of Hong Kong racing, who was partway through an unprecedented run of 13 consecutive jockeys’ championship titles. It was, in short, one of the most difficult environments in world racing for an aspiring rider to establish himself.
How could a young hoop from Lismore, a regional town on Australia’s far north coast, hope to carve out a career in a city dominated by established international stars?
“I was a young kid that no one had heard of. It was very hard to get an opportunity,” Purton said. “It was hard to get a ride that could even run a race. I was spinning around a lot of horses at 50/1 and 100/1 that were just making up the numbers. It was quite disappointing and frustrating at times.”
Few could have imagined what lay ahead. Nearly two decades later, Purton’s rise to the summit of Hong Kong racing stands as a testament to his determination, resilience and hard work.
“That wasn’t easy – to stay determined and resilient, and keep turning up and everything that comes with that,” Purton said.
“My consistency is the one thing that I’m probably most proud of. Some jockeys are able to go on a roll for a few meetings, or a few weeks, or a month here and there. But to do it over 10 months of the season, and then do it for well past a decade now… The consistency that I’ve ridden at, I think, is the thing that I’m most proud of.”
Another factor in his ascent has been the calibre of opponents that Hong Kong has consistently produced. Purton says fierce rivalries brought out the best in him.
First, he had to dethrone the legendary Whyte.
Purton had been steadily improving his strike rate in the five years since his arrival, and by the 2012/13 season, he was locked in a battle for the championship with Whyte, only to be struck down with kidney stones in June 2013 and miss the final weeks of the season.
“We were head-to-head, and I ended up missing a few meetings, and that opportunity slipped through my fingers,” Purton said. “But it gave me the confidence to know that I was in a place now where I was able to challenge and try and win a championship.
“I came back the next season, to throw everything at it, and I rode the fastest 50 winners in Hong Kong racing history.”
Purton ended Whyte’s reign of supremacy in 2013/14, but no sooner had he seen off one great than another emerged in the form of Brazilian Joao Moreira. His arrival from Singapore, where he was a four-time champion, heralded one of the golden periods in the history of Hong Kong racing, with the pair going toe-to-toe during a spectacular era in which they exchanged championship titles and produced a series of gripping campaigns.
Purton says it was his near decade-long rivalry with the Brazilian – with each at the very height of their powers – that pushed him to his greatest heights, even if the toll that battle took on both men led them almost to breaking point.
“The decade of dominance that Joao and I had, and the battles that we had…” Purton recalled. “We had those battles that went down to the final meeting a couple of times. We took our bodies through hell and back to try and achieve what we did. There were moments where I didn’t think I was going to be able to go on any longer. We dragged everything out of each other, and it did take everything out of me at the time.”
After Moreira left Hong Kong, Purton settled into a period of peerless dominance. He will celebrate his fifth consecutive jockey’s championship – and ninth overall – next month, and with no more records to break, Purton says it’s the emotional ties to the owners, trainers and the great horses he’s worked with that drive him forward.
“I’ve been very lucky. I’ve ridden a lot of nice horses,” Purton said. “I couldn’t do anything without the support that I get from the owners and trainers, and Hong Kong has been such a great place for me.
“The association I had with Beauty Generation, I really enjoyed that; Aerovelocity was fantastic; Exultant used to fight like a lion, I loved him,” Purton said of the horses that have shaped his career.
“It is special to be associated with a horse like Ka Ying Rising, and I feel like the timing of it – you couldn’t have written it any better. I’m enjoying that, and who knows how long he’s going to go on for.”
As for what comes next, Purton is comfortable with all he has achieved. Records may continue to fall, but there is no longer a target driving the 43-year-old. The phenomenal Ka Ying Rising has given him a timely flourish to savour. The fire still burns, but the frantic accumulation is over. His legacy is assured.