From humble beginnings, Zac Purton has risen to become the most successful jockey in the history of Hong Kong racing and will add another chapter to his illustrious career when he becomes the first rider to notch 2,000 wins in the city.
With 1,995 victories to his name, the Australian superstar can reach the magical milestone as soon as Sunday’s final Group One meeting of the season at Sha Tin.
First, though, let’s take a look back at his journey to greatness and the highlights of his 18 years in Hong Kong.
The early struggles
Arriving in Hong Kong as a bright-eyed 24-year-old, Purton was thrust onto a star-studded riding roster featuring the likes of Douglas Whyte, Felix Coetzee, Brett Prebble, Darren Beadman, Gerald Mosse, Olivier Doleuze, Glen Boss, Christophe Soumillon and Shane Dye.
Success did not come easily. His first triumph was on the Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained Elfhelm at Happy Valley on September 12, 2007, but opportunities during that first season were few and far between.
The lack of opportunities had Purton seriously considering ending his stint and returning to Australia, but his wife Nicole convinced him to persevere.
Purton steadily increased his seasonal tallies – from 29 in his first campaign to 43, 48, 53, 64 and 88, largely thanks to his relationships with local trainers.
The first championship
After looming as a big threat to the all-conquering Whyte in 2012-13, Purton ended the South African’s reign of 13 straight titles in 2013-14 to become the first Australian rider to win the Hong Kong championship since Noel Barker in 1991.
He broke the Hong Kong record for the fastest 50 wins and became only the second rider, after Whyte, to notch 100 in a season, finishing with 112.
Joao Moreira’s arrival forced Purton to wait four years to regain his title as the two superstars traded blows in a fierce rivalry, which was at its peak when Purton rode four winners to Moreira’s none on the final meeting of the 2021-22 campaign to clinch another title.
The first International Jockeys’ Championship
It is widely regarded as the best jockeys’ competition in the world and Purton proved his champion qualities when claiming his first IJC crown at Happy Valley in 2017.
Despite being ranked one of the outsiders in the fixed-odds market, Purton scored victories in two of the four legs to beat Silvestre de Sousa. He also won the IJC in 2020 and 2021 and shares the record with Whyte, Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore for most wins in the prestigious contest.
Group One grand slam
Purton achieved a significant slice of history with victory in the Group One QEII Cup (2,000m) aboard Exultant in 2020, becoming the first jockey to claim all 12 Hong Kong Group Ones.
The QEII had eluded Purton until he delivered on the hot $1.5 favourite Exultant, despite surprise defeats on fellow favourites Beauty Generation and Aethero in the other two Group Ones that day.
The 1,000-win milestone
On June 8, 2019, Purton became only the second rider in Hong Kong history to reach 1,000 wins, joining Whyte in the exclusive club.
The record-breaking season
With Whyte and Moreira out of the picture, Purton put together the greatest season of all time with 179 wins – surpassing the previous Hong Kong record of 170 set by Moreira – with a strike rate of more than 17 per cent.
He also set a single season prize money record, accumulating HK$277,712,060 in a historic campaign.
The all-time win record
In January last year, Purton surged past the Hong Kong record of 1,813 wins set by Whyte when he booted home View Of The World at Happy Valley.
To mark the occasion, the Jockey Club wheeled out a commemorative bell for Purton to ring for several wins leading up to the record-breaking success.
There has also been a countdown to his 2,000-win milestone, with the number of wins needed flashing on the big screen after each of his triumphs since he reached 1,990.
