Our series continues with a Hong Kong visitor who scorched the Berkshire turf – and the seven-time champion whose career was supercharged as a result
In any race, the draw, the post position can have a major effect on the result. Stall seven didn’t seem that significant for jockey Zac Purton, sitting on the Hong Kong challenger Little Bridge, waiting for the start of the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2012.
As it turned out, it wasn’t being in stall seven that mattered. What was crucial to the race – the result, and obliquely the rest of Purton’s glittering career – was the fact that Frankie Dettori was next door in stall six. Now, that must be what they mean by the ‘luck of the draw’.
“We were in the stall, and a horse at the other end of the gate was playing up,” says Purton, 42, the Australian ace who is a seven-time champion in Hong Kong, recalling the drama of his very first ride in Britain.
“The handlers were taking it out the back, and I assumed it was going to be vetted. Now, everywhere you go around the world, that process takes a little time. So I relaxed, actually got off Little Bridge’s back and stood on the partition between the stalls.
“Next door, though, Frankie Dettori told me to get back on, saying as soon as that horse came out the gates would open. He saved me – as soon as I got back in the saddle the gates opened and we got a fast start.
“But it could have been a disaster, to go all that way and have me blow our chance before the race had even started.”
The journey of 6,000 miles could so easily have ended with a mis-step. It had started in a flush of optimism, a whirlwind dash across the world. Purton had ridden at Sha Tin on the Sunday, jetted out that night, landed in the UK on the Monday ready for the race on Tuesday.
“The owner of Little Bridge [Ko Kam Piu] had hired a school bus to take us out to Ascot so we could all get a feel of the place without too many people around,” says Purton.
“I walked the track, got my bearings, and then we all got back on the bus and went into London, had a really nice dinner at Scalini [Italian restaurant in Chelsea] and started the celebrations before the big day – we had so much fun that night.
Pause for thought
“It ended up being a bit of a late night, not too sure about the time differences and that sort of thing, and I got to bed later than I’d planned. Then up early, back on the school bus to Ascot to see the Queen in the royal procession down the racetrack, all those top hats and tails, all new to me and a great experience.”
The plan to bring Little Bridge, who had finished fourth in the Hong Kong Sprint at the end of the previous year, had been hatched after the six-year-old had carried a big weight to win a local G3 over the straight five furlongs at Sha Tin in April. The basic similarities of a straight turf 5f wherever you are in the world meant it made sense to go, according to Purton, although he admits that Ascot’s undulations and slight uphill finish still gave the raiders pause for thought.
The King’s Stand – now rechristened as the King Charles III Stakes – was the second race on the card, and it had a pretty tough act to follow after the great Frankel had blown away the opposition in the opening Queen Anne. Purton, thinking on his feet, boldly drew inspiration from the champ’s virtuoso performance.
“I really appreciated the privilege of seeing Frankel up close,” he says. “I went out specially to watch him in the parade, and in the race itself I noticed he came up the middle of the track.
“So I reckoned what was good for Frankel was good for us too, and I told [trainer] Danny Shum that I was changing tactics, tearing up the original plan and coming up the middle too. Danny didn’t try to talk me out of it, just said he’d leave it up to me.”
And with a little help from Frankie Dettori, the change of plan paid off. Little Bridge, a 12-1 chance in a field of 22, was swiftly into his stride, tracked the leader until taking command at the furlong pole, and finished off strongly to beat third-choice Bated Breath by three-quarters of a length.
“He was into a nice rhythm right away, rolling along, well balanced, it never really felt in doubt,” says Purton. “He just travelled that well all the way.
Memorable occasion
“Winning felt great, but I suppose I didn’t fully grasp the significance, the importance of what I’d done. That didn’t happen until I was a bit older, it all sank in a bit more then.”
Purton received his trophy from Camilla, Princess of Wales – now Queen Camilla – but had his sights set on another member of the royal family. Like any tourist, he wanted to see the Queen, and he did – an occasion memorable for both parties.
“My first ride in Britain, and fair enough, I was a bit oblivious to the UK rules,” he says, laughter in his voice, knowing what’s coming.
“I was so keen to see the Queen, so I came out of the changing room and went to stand where the jockeys go out into the parade ring, behind a big glass wall. Then I saw her coming along, and she walked right past where I was standing.
“She stopped, and gave me a smile. So did Prince Philip. I was thrilled – until I turned around and saw everyone behind me was wearing blazers, or top hat and tails, looking the part. And there I was, the newbie, standing looking at the Queen with no shirt on. At least she smiled!”
Purton hasn’t ridden in Britain since – not, let it be said, through royal decree of banishment for appearing half-naked before the monarch – and would be delighted to bring his 100 per cent record back to Royal Ascot if the right horse came along.
Yawning disparity
He points to the yawning disparity in prize-money between Hong Kong and Britain, suggests that an owner would need to put prestige above purse-money to make the trip and recognises the economic imperatives of staying at home.
Yet the one time he didn’t stay at home, it changed his life. Purton has ridden more than 1,800 winners in Hong Kong, breaking the national record earlier this year and extending it with every subsequent victory, and has won all the major races in the jurisdiction as well as plenty of big races in his native Australia. He is the regular partner of world #1 racehorse Ka Ying Rising.
It’s been, and continues to be, an exemplary career – and Little Bridge might have made all the difference.
“He was the one who changed people’s perception of me in Hong Kong,” says Purton.
“When I arrived there from Australia, there were a lot of well-established jockeys and it was hard to break through, hard to get opportunities in big races.
“I’d ridden Little Bridge from the start of his career, his gallops, his trials, but it wasn’t until I won on him at Royal Ascot that people began to think ‘hang on, this guy can win big races’.
“Later that year I picked up the ride on Ambitious Dragon and we won the Hong Kong Mile, and it all sort of took off from there. I needed a marquee horse, and Little Bridge was it, a very significant moment in my career.
“I’ve ridden more winners for Danny Shum than for anyone else, we’ve had a lot of big days together, but I’m not certain that would have been the case if I’d messed it up at the gate at Ascot. I’m glad I had Frankie next to me.”
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