When Zac Purton was fairly recently quoted as saying that it’s not exactly a walk in the park for him to get on the “winningest” horses in Hong Kong, there were those who smirked and mentioned that the champion rider was playing one of his mind games again.
While still following horse racing in Hong Kong, albeit intermittently these days in a city not exactly bursting at the seams with exciting things to do, the pastime offers an excuse for some to release whatever adrenaline is left by screaming at the television set at home or somewhere else that might be streaming the races.
Why not actually attend the races?
As far as my friends and I are concerned, the Hong Kong racetrack experience is not the same as those original Happy Wednesday nights or attending the HKIR meetings around twenty years ago.
Having said this, the numbers trotted out by the HKJC show that despite a downturn in the economy that has rocked and rolled over the city’s retail sector through a massive decline in spending power, Hong Kong racing turnover, and attendance figures miraculously, remain, well, “resilient”.
As Father Benedict in an award winning commercial for Xerox copying machines decades ago once looked up to heaven and said, “It’s a miracle!”.
Returning to ZP, though it’s still early days of the new season, and with the Aussie having got off to a flying start, when told that their equine investments are ready to win, owners look for good odds.
They know that having the champion rider on their runners would substantially reduce these odds.
Having another rider booked instead would usually see these odds significantly increase and with the runner travelling under the radar and many eyes- and bets- on whatever Purton is riding and with Hong Kong racing’s well known conspiracy theories going into weird overdrive.
Of course, having Zac Purton not winning every race creates a slightly more level playing field and more entertaining and competitive horse racing.
More interestingly, it also offers those interested enough in digging through the usual servings of a set menu, the opportunity to see how Zac rises to this challenge and navigates his way through any booby traps that might be in his way.
It’s kinda like horse racing’s Mission Impossible with Zac playing Ethan Hunt.
Hard to picture, but…
On the National Day races at Shatin, we saw him ride the Dennis Yip trained Around The View at 120 pounds, something he doesn’t do often- the lightweight in the race and which won at odds of 9-1.
The runner was almost hidden in a race where there were some frenetic betting moves on at least five other gallopers.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, they say, and who could possibly slow down the inevitability where Zac Purton overtakes Douglas Whyte’s record for riding the most number of winners in Hong Kong?
There’s also a new string to the fortysomething rider’s bow: A budding partnership with Trainer David Hayes and his stable star in the potential champion sprinter Ka Ying Rising.
There’s also news that the gelding will be entered for next year’s AUS$20 million Everest race in Sydney- and with regular rider Z.Purton aboard.
The Everest will be in October of next year and, of course much can happen between now and then.
Just an idea, but why not show how a partnership with Zac and Haysey- or Pierre Ng and Danny Shum works- and how and where the owner fits in?
Enquiring minds, especially those new to the game, want to know what they’re getting into without letting it all hang out and mess up the best laid plans.
All this is about BRANDING.
Meanwhile, with more younger gallopers in Hong Kong showing potential, don’t think any of these have gone unnoticed by The Zac Attack- or owners with the vision to look beyond the obvious.
If anything, Ka Ying Rising might have given the rider and his family the lift needed to stay in Hong Kong for a couple more years and make things work according to their schedule.
“Zacology” should also perhaps be used to show the Hong Kong Jockey Club how and why it can be more than being another tired and one dimensional racing club with no multi pronged business strategy.
The world has changed forever, dumplings- and everything in it.
Having said all this, the combination of Zac Purton and Ka Ying Rising includes the Renaissance of David Hayes after a somewhat slow start to his comeback tour of the city.
David Hayes is no has-been. He’s proved the doubters wrong and has already motivated and inspired other horse trainers in Hong Kong.
How?
To work with those owners with the disposable income and look at investing in horse racing in ways that haven’t been thought about before.
Think about this, understand what can be, and why Change is good.
With Hong Kong looking more and more like a nondescript province in mainland China attracting an influx of tourists from the motherland, there’s a need for every industry in the city to look at making where we are more international- just as when Hong Kong was seen as Asia’s World City.
I don’t know Zac very well, and we don’t share our innermost secrets with each other as we’ve come from very different backgrounds and have equally different life paths and priorities.
However, with Hong Kong very much in our blood, and having worked hard to build up our individual portfolios, next steps are still being shaped.
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