‘It just makes me feel more loved’ – How Zac Purton flourished in the Hong Kong spotlight

Zac Purton is now, statistically, Hong Kong’s greatest-ever jockey. He told Matt Stewart how the intense scrutiny of racing’s greatest fish bowl turned him into a champion and what the future may hold as he battles the wear and tear of 25 years in the saddle.   

Zac Purton had just nailed a four-timer at Sha Tin – “I should have ridden seven”. That came off the back of Purton smashing the all-time record for winners in Hong Kong.

He was at the international airport with his wife and kids and about to steal four nights in Hanoi before returning to begin another great chase; the first Hong Kong jockey to ride 2000 winners.

The first record, smashing through Douglas Whyte’s 1814 winners, came after a scratchy start.

At first, he was homesick and virtually winless. Glen Boss had to beg the kid to stay. That was 2007. He stuck at it and first had to chip away at Whyte, then Joao Moreira, who dominated Purton for a handful of years and shared a particular quirk.

It wasn’t stinking hot in Hanoi this week, but it was warmer than Hong Kong. For 42-year-old Purton, this was not insignificant.

Purton’s troublesome hip ached – always an alarm bell for the ageing champion – and his fingers and toes were still thawing out. In the cold, Purton rides with “electric” gloves and socks to stop him seizing up.

The cold is Purton’s kryptonite. The “where to now?” of one of one of world racing’s most illustrious careers will be dependent on worn hips that get worse in the cold and the next great challenge, the impending arrival of James McDonald.

As a kid, Purton rode on loan to Robert Smerdon at Ballarat. “He might be anything but he won’t come out from under the doona,” Smerdon said.

A hatred of the cold followed Purton throughout his ever-escalating career.

Last Sunday, the four-timer that would have been seven with an ounce of luck, was achieved in relatively cool weather. In such conditions, Purton can barely function.

On one particular day in 2016, Hong Kong was blasted by a rare cold spell. It was zero degrees up on the mountain and not much warmer at Sha Tin where Purton refused to ride until he realised that Moreira, perhaps his greatest-ever rival, hated the cold even more.

Moreira stayed at home under a blanket and Purton, in his thermal gloves and socks, rode a treble. From that moment on, Purton would have the wood on the Brazilian.

The temperature rose to late teens last Sunday but to Purton, it was arctic.

“I do hate it,” he said. “I get so cold and I don’t know why and everyone here laughs about it. I refuse to play golf in winter. I can’t function. My fingers and toes go white and I can’t feel them.”

Purton says the cold at Sha Tin last weekend contributed to an aching hip, a recurring issue and one that may provide a blunt answer to that “what next?” question.

Time might be running out.

“I don’t have a timeline. I take it as it comes but that hip was really sore yesterday. It may have been the cold or a horse whipping around on me but when I think of the future, it’s something I think about.”

That dizzy 1814 winners that smashed Whyte’s record was unthinkable when Purton arrived from Sydney as “the little whipper snapper” in 2007.

Glen Boss was sitting in a steam room with Purton at Sha Tin. Purton was struggling to break into a supergroup of jockeys that included Whyte, Darren Beadman, Gerald Mosse, Boss, Shane Dye and Olivier Doleuze

“They batted down to 12,” observed leading HK scribe Alan Aitken. “It was the greatest group of jockeys assembled anywhere, any time.”

Purton wanted out.

“He was kicking stones for those first six months,” Boss said. “We were in the steam room one arvo and he said he was going home. He was getting sick of it and the joint can eat you up.

“I was heading home. I said to Zac “mate, you’re a young bloke, you don’t have family holding you back, you’ve got nothing to prove back home.” I begged him to stay another six months.”

Boss had fallen out with top trainer Ricky Yiu and Purton filled the void. “Then he was off and running,” Boss said.

Over the next 17 years Purton would become not just the most winning Hong Kong jockey but intrinsic to the brand of HK racing, a powerful figure in the jockeys’ room and outside of it. He would become incredibly famous and enjoy the trappings. “Yes, I do tend to get the best tables at restaurants,” he said.

When Marc Van Gestel arrived in HK last year as the new chief steward with a new set of rules, Purton stood up as the elder statesman of the jockeys’ room and gave Van Gestel an ultimatum.

Purton knew Hong Kong racing would dip without him.

“He’s got a lot of pull,” Boss said. “Wagering turnover he creates for that club is huge. He’s got this huge following on social media. He’s kind of shone a light on Hong Kong racing. He’s an ambassador.”

The cold war with Van Gestel came and went but not before Purton gave a “him or me” ultimatum if the steward did not ease up on his still penalties for careless riding.

“Wagering turnover he creates for that club is huge. He’s got this huge following on social media. He’s kind of shone a light on Hong Kong racing. He’s an ambassador.” – Glen Boss on Zac Purton

Van Gestel held his line and Purton stayed put.

“Like everyone when they get their feet under the desk, he wanted to change things. I was so used to a certain way of things … but as time has gone on, we’ve got along really well,” Purton said.

In the bubble of Hong Kong, a famous jockey is truly famous.

Purton is comfortable in the cauldron. He is proud of his achievements and accepts the accolades.

“It’s certainly a bubble. They say my name in Chinese and they think I don’t know. I get pulled up every day for a photo, a good luck, you’re my idol, my favourite jockey,” he said.

“I bloody love Hong Kong. It never sleeps. None of it makes me uncomfortable. It just makes me feel more loved, more appreciated.”

Aitken, the longest-surviving ex-pat journo in Hong Kong, says Purton did not glide to the top like the naturally gifted Moreira.

“He did the hard yards. The first championship he won came without riding for three big stables,” Aitken said.

“For three seasons Joao murdered him. By the time he was done, Zac had become the better jockey.”

Purton’s arrival in 2007 came mid-way through Whyte’s run of 13-straight jockey titles. Purton won his first in 2013/14 before Moreira went ballistic through 2014/15, 15/16 and 16/17, relegating Purton to a distant second. Purton would slay Moreira six to one through the next seven premierships.

Boss does not subscribe to the view that Hong Kong is the world jockey superpower – “that’s clearly Australia” – but he said the top tier in HK had always been extraordinary.

He said Purton’s delivery on self-belief was key to his legend.

“He’s the most competitive person I think I’ve ever met. The more against him, the harder he goes,” Boss said.

“Joao may have been the more natural talent but Zac has done it through sheer determination.”

Purton’s hip aches and the weather is at its coolest in Hong Kong. James McDonald will soon be a full-time rival.

The most competitive person that Boss has known does not know what’s next.

“James is an unbelievable rider. But I can’t say the idea of him coming here motivates me to go again,” Purton said.

“I’m proud of what I’ve done and wouldn’t do anything different. I don’t see rivals as a target. You’re compared to others, it happens in all sports.

“I’ve always admired the best jockeys around the world, I study them. I’m glad I’ve pitted myself against them and am humbled to be compared to them.”