Zac Purton didn’t need to fly into Sydney after 1579 days away to land a $180 Group 1 double at Randwick to prove anything, least of all to himself.
Perhaps there was more satisfaction when he partnered with racing identity Billy Balzer against Michael Freedman and Mark McPherson in a game at New South Wales Golf Course the day after, when they got to the par 3 17th in trouble, “pressed” and “got out of jail” for the pitiful penance involved.
Not that the money would have been an issue in sorting the settling. His Saturday wages were $46,750 from the Randwick Guineas (Communist) and Canterbury Stakes (Artorious) alone. Add some shrapnel from other placings.
“I probably would have made that if not more on a normal Sunday at Sha Tin,” said Purton without even the hint of boast or blasé.
And the chance to see Tye Angland for the first time since his life changing fall in Hong Kong four years ago was almost as priceless for Purton and worth the trip back “home” in itself.
Talking to Zac Purton is without babble.
Zac Purton returns to scale after steering Artorius to a thrilling victory in the Canterbury Stakes. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images
A man comfortable in his own skin and lot in life, both on and off the track. And he is more than comfortable in and at both. And should be. A true global star of the sport. And knows it, but without the fanfare.
Yes, much is made and asked of imminent decisions ahead, re his future, be it still in Hong Kong where he has won five premierships, upended Douglas Whyte’s 13 year reign and then battled Brazilian ace Joao Moreira in a promoter and punter’s dream match-up.
Hong Kong racing and their punters need Zac, his horses have won about $HK3.4b (try A$643m) over his 15 seasons (where jockeys earn 10% of the winner’s fee plus some expected bonuses from enthusiastic local owners).
And Brand ZP brand is now commercial and running overtime through wife Nicole - caps, shirts, jackets, collector’s cards all available at https://zacpurton.com/collections/all
The notoriously controlling HKJC have initiated their own talks with Purton to relax and open more travelling opportunities like last weekend to Australia for Purton, such is his status. (And he will next be back in Sydney for Artorius Group 1 T J Smith Stakes on April 1).
Negotiations continue at the same time, as do renovations on his Sydney Clovelly home, carried out by Michael Koundouris’s property group, he conveniently a part-owner of Communist.
“I love Hong Kong, it’s a great place to live, it is safe, it’s financially rewarding, a low tax rate (16%), next to no travel, live on course, the kids (Roxy, 8, and Cash, 6) love it and go to an English school nearby, and Nicole loves the social aspect, we go to the best restaurants, drink the best wine, get invited to the best yachts, play golf, go hiking, it’s a great lifestyle,” Purton said.
One of the many family photos from their travels. Photo: Instagram @nicolepurton
“But the question I have to ask myself is I have done this same program week in and week out for so many years now, am I locked in, staring at the walls, where is the challenge. Don’t get me wrong, maybe I am getting more sentimental as I go on and people ask what’s next?,” he said.
“Some people are scared to fail, they are comfortable what they are doing, I want to throw myself into the frying pan and see how I measure up, I want to put myself in difficult positions and test myself, I’ve always been like that, from soccer, cricket and little athletics as a kid, but I have no fear of failure. I enjoy pressure.”
This from the then 27kg kid who left school at 14 and walked into Trevor Hardy’s stables in Coffs Harbour, after seeing an opportunity to be a jockey offered through a Kempsey RSL course run by former jockey Maurice Logue.
“Tests showed he had significantly delayed growth, as much as four years behind the others of his age. As a kid he had a terrible case of small man syndrome too. He had a shocking temper,’’ Purton’s father Phil was quoted in a former Fairfax article.
So, no racing background here, born in Lismore, but soon on the road from Casino to Mount Gambier to New Zealand’s South Island, before getting back to Coffs, where Phil ran a small farm and drove cabs to keep interested, mum Liz running a laundry at Woolgoolga. His two sisters had and still have only a little interest in racing, his brother based in Cairns, follows the form, and Zac.
Zac Purton with Trevor Hardy in Hong Kong Picture: SCMP
“I remember riding on the beach at Coffs because I wasn’t strong enough to hold them on the track,” Purton said.
“But Trevor always believed in me. It is one of my greatest thrills to have him on Hong Kong to see me win on Beauty Generation (2019 Champion’s Mile). When I walked into his stables he was 60 and when I left he reckons I aged him. It was a 15-minute drive to the stables from home every day and back every night, so I got drilled, and he is still going now,” Purton said.
But that is as far removed from Purton’s current Hong Kong lifestyle as one could imagine but never far removed from the ambitious young Purton.
“I left school in year 10,” he says matter of factly, and now mixes with Hong Kong’s richest and most influential, while carrying the expectations of punt mad locals every race meeting.
“What I love about Hong Kong is the people, they are entrepreneurs, have ambitions, are driven by success, like I am. I am very fortunate, in my position to have access to the most successful people in this place who love horse racing. And I wouldn’t have gotten that back in Australia or anywhere else,” said Zac.
“They invite me out for dinner, one on one, they are as interested in me as I am in them, I absorb all their knowledge for my good, it’s a unique opportunity I have.”
“I’ve been able to surround myself with great people here, who have given me tremendous advice. I’ve invested in many things, property, companies, stocks, some good some not so good, but the aim has been to set ourselves up for the end of my career whenever that be.”
Zac Purton steers Communist to victory in the Randwick Guineas at the weekend. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images
But many Australian jockeys have failed to make the impact in Hong Kong that Purton has, Brett Prebble fought Douglas Whyte before Purton, but so many younger recent riders like Jye McNeil, Daniel Moor, even Blake Shinn have failed the stringent test required, perhaps more influenced by the COVID lockdowns than the pressure a Sha Tin or happy Valley race meeting can bring.
“It’s a tough school for sure, and COVID was extremely tough on all of us, but it seems now (mask restrictions were lifted after three years last week) Hong Kong is getting back to normal,” says Purton.
“But at the time we couldn’t even mix with people in the same apartment building, kids couldn’t mix in the playground, groceries were left at the front door. It just wasn’t healthy and it must have been tough with family or support, thankfully racing kept going.”
Purton thrives on the statesman like figure he now presents, even with an unfortunate recent run-in with new chief steward Mark Van Gestel, that earned him a substantial fine. But he is one, and always has been, one to call it as he sees it. But there is no sense of self importance at the same time.
“To me there is never any animosity or jealousy for any rider who does well here in this environment.
“I want to see them do well. What I’d say is our local jockeys are very under-rated, they are doing the job,” he said. (Golden Sixty’s jockey Vincent Ho is running 2nd on the jockeys premiership, 51 behind Purton).
But ask Purton a Dorothy Dixer to name the best five jockeys in the world right now, he lobs back four (in no particular order) - Ryan Moore, Christophe Soumillion, James McDonald, and Hugh Bowman – leaving that extra slot for me to add himself in.
“I’ve got no regrets and I don’t want to have any regrets. Yes there is unfinished business, the race I want to win is the Melbourne Cup, that’s number one, but I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world, win at Royal Ascot, Group 1’s in Japan and Singapore, and I’ve learnt to change and adapt my style wherever I go.”
The Hong Kong Derby, the race every owner wants to win at Sha Tin, comes up Sunday week, and Purton is naturally on the early favorite Beauty Eternal for the Kwok family, who race their horses with the “Beauty” name and Purton rates Beauty generation the best he has ridden.
“This is the race to win, so I won’t compromise my preparation by coming home for the Golden Slipper meeting, I want to concentrate on the Derby, the Kwoks have been very good to me,” he said.
Just as racing has been good to Purton, so too has he been to the sport.
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