Zac Purton

Last updated

Zac Purton
Zac Purton 20240324.jpg
Purton at the Sha Tin Racecourse, Hong Kong on 24 March 2024
OccupationJockey
Born(1983-01-03)3 January 1983
Lismore, New South Wales, Australia
Major racing wins
Caulfield Cup
Hong Kong Cup
Hong Kong Derby
Hong Kong Vase
King's Stand Stakes
Takamatsunomiya Kinen
Significant horses
Beauty Generation, Little Bridge, Military Attack

Zac Purton (born 3 January 1983) is an Australian jockey who lives in Hong Kong.

Contents

Purton won the Brisbane jockeys' premiership as an apprentice in 2003, then moved to Sydney and was quickly amongst the top jockeys there before he began his Hong Kong career in 2007/08. In the 2013/14 season, Purton ended the 13-year championship reign of Douglas Whyte, becoming the first Australian jockey to win the Hong Kong title since Noel Barker in 1991. [1] (112 wins). He notched up 112 wins on his way to the title. Purton also raced to what was then the fastest 50 in Hong Kong history that season and became the second rider, after Whyte, to notch 100 wins in a season. Purton lost his title when he came second to João Moreira in 2014/15 with 95 wins, then was runner-up to Moreira again in 2015-16 and 2016-17 before reclaiming the Hong Kong championship in 2017-18 in a close finish.

With 854 career wins as a jockey in Hong Kong, Purton sits third on the list behind Whyte (1,791) and Tony Cruz (946). He represented Hong Kong in the World Super Jockey Series held by the Japan Racing Association in 2012, recording two wins and being crowned as champion. He won the prestigious Hong Kong Derby in 2015, with the John Size-trained Luger, and his Hong Kong Cup win on Time Warp in 2017 made Purton only the third jockey, after Gerald Mosse and Moreira, to have won all four of Hong Kong's December international races.

Major wins

Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia


Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom


Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong


Flag of Japan.svg  Japan


Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore


Flag of Macau.svg  Macau


Performance at the Hong Kong Jockey Club

SeasonsTotal RidesNo. of WinsNo. of 2ndsNo. of 3rdsNo. of 4thsStakes won
2007/200842029233026HK$22,437,475
2008/200948943403737HK$37,035,812
2009/201051848563850HK$48,676,250
2010/201152753404557HK$41,472,500
2011/201248264535842HK$50,993,250
2012/201355088865152HK$94,153,400
2013/2014639112866856HK$101,465,937
2014/201548195664140HK$107,683,325
2015/201653180744951HK$97,453,000
2016/2017604107926048HK$140,821,315
2017/20186351361076460HK$181,824,240
2018/20196801681116962HK$234,989,515
2019/202070714710110056HK$202,112,646
2020/20217131251177572HK$173,768,000
2021/2022674136979666HK$185,307,365

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