If there was any doubt that Zac Purton was in a mighty big hurry to break the record for the most number of winners ridden by a jockey in Hong Kong, one really should have seen his ride on Howdeepisyourlove in the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy.
Run over the Shatin 1000 metres straight, where the shortest way home is to be drawn out wide, the Australian jockey was drawn barrier 1- not good, especially when Magic Control, the $1.80 favourite, was drawn to get all the favours.
It didn’t take long to see that this was going to be an easy win- that is until one realised that The Zac Attack had crossed over to the rails and was hard at work to get close to the tear away leader.
Then, he threw in the entire kitchen sink, never gave up giving his all and made Magic Control lose all his knobs.
It was quite an extraordinary win and it’s been an equally extraordinary few recent meetings with Zac Purton riding a Six Up, then a treble, and another treble at yesterday’s New Year’s Day and Lucky Start meeting.
Of course to add to the theatre and the entertainment value is that Douglas Whyte, the thirteen time consecutive Champion Jockey of Hong Kong, and now a trainer, has been on course taking it all in.
He’s been watching Purton not only come after his record and break it, but also conjure up everything and more from his bag of tricks with a relentless display of focus and determination- not unlike the epic battles between Whyte and Brett Prebble.
Some working in horse racing have finally watched the Netflix documentary “Drive To Survive”, which shows all the excitement, drama and speed of Formula One racing and have been gobsmacked at how good it is- even if one wouldn’t know Max Verstappen from Max Headroom.
Most recently, many of us watched what was very possibly the greatest cricket Test match ever played, which really had it all and was joyfully inhaled by 370, 000 spectators over the five days.
Introduced to the world was the brilliant batting display from Australia’s 19 year old Sam Konstas and new technology showing everyone how he went about his business.
There was the emotional attachment of watching the rags to riches story unfold when India’s 22 year old Nitish Kumar Reddy scored his maiden Test century.
Hopefully all this might be food for thought for those looking at giving horse racing that certain je ne sais quoi that still appears to elude the pastime.
Zac Purton, and later, son Cash ringing a bell to signal that another winner had been ridden and that the time for Douglas Whyte’s record to be “gonged” is close at hand was, well, cute.
But is cuteness and ringing bells the brand personality Hong Kong racing needs?
Hopefully, a documentary that’s followed Zac Purton’s drive to succeed and create his own personal best with appearances by Douglas Whyte, Joao Moreira etc has been in the works or is being produced.
After all, isn’t this adrenaline rush a different kind of horsepower and almost like Formula One on four legs?
It’s the type of inspirational success story that horse racing and a lost and confused Hong Kong needs to get its mojo back.
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