Zac Purton remembers removing his racing boot and getting a shock when seeing his left big toe at a right angle.
One of the world’s best jockeys, Purton is in Sydney on Saturday for day one of The Championships with a litany of injuries in his backstory.
Hong Kong’s premier jockey Zac Purton.Credit: Getty
A broken wrist, broken heels and ankles, a broken nose. There was also a slipped disc in his back about a decade ago, which left him with no feeling in his legs for a few hours, and a surgeon in Hong Kong telling him he would never ride again. Thankfully, that surgeon was wrong.
But Purton never imagined a fall in Sha Tin on February 9 that led to him fracturing his big toe in three places would cause so much grief.
While he returned to the races last weekend and partnered champion sprinter – and The Everest favourite – Ka Ying Rising to victory, Purton shifted his focus immediately to trying to get down to 54kg to ride Moira in the Doncaster.
Having won the autumn Randwick mile feature on Sacred Falls (2014), It’s Somewhat (2017) and crowd favourite Mr Brightside (2023), Purton has a lot of respect for Canadian champion Moira going into the latest edition of the $4 million group 1 feature.
Purton was walking around at 60kg a few weeks ago before three pins from his toe were removed, and he was cleared to start swimming.
Jetting into Sydney on Friday morning, Purton had to ditch a chance to watch his beloved Sydney Roosters do battle with bitter rivals South Sydney so he could focus on making sure his weight was under control.
“I won’t lie, when I fractured the big toe, I didn’t think it would be as big a problem as it has been,” Purton said.
“I was involved in a three-horse pile-up in February, a horse in front of me snapped its leg, and I went over it, then two horses went over the top of us.
Zac Purton wins the 2014 Doncaster on Sacred FallsCredit: Anthony Johnson
“I thought I had busted my ankle, my knee was in pain, so was my quad, but I had no idea about my toe until they took the boot off and it was sideways.
“I had surgery, and it hasn’t been too painful since, but I haven’t been able to run – I still haven’t got a clearance to run – I’ve done work in the gym on the bike and upper-body weights, while I was only allowed swim once the pins were out a couple of weeks ago.
“The whole time I covered my foot every time I showered so the pins wouldn’t get wet. If you stand in the shower on one leg trying to wash yourself, that’s a decent workout in itself.
“I thought I’d give myself four to six weeks to get the weight down and ease back into things. But taking the ride on Moira meant I had to work hard. It hasn’t been easy, but hopefully, it’s worth it.”
Zac Purton after winning the 2023 Doncaster on Mr Brightside.Credit: Getty
Moira won at the Breeders Cup meeting last year. She has drawn poorly in gate 21, but Sacred Falls won from barrier 20, when Purton dragged his mount back, then rode him for luck along the inside to beat Royal Descent.
Former chief steward Ray Murrihy hailed Purton’s performance at the time as “one of the top ten rides I’d ever seen”.
“We haven’t seen Moira trial, I’ll ride her on feel, and I might have to try and reproduce a ride like the one on Sacred Falls to own again,” Purton said.
Now 42, Purton has spoken about retirement several times. He joked he was going to pull the pin when he rode one more winner than rival and Hong Kong record holder Douglas Whyte, but has since kept going.
When you ask Purton about his exit from the game, he says: “I was going to retire. Then Ka Ying Rising came along.”
With Ka Ying Rising the favourite for The Everest, Purton will run his eye over some of his potential rivals who will contest the TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick today.
Purton named Beauty Generation as the best horse he had ridden. He hopes Ka Ying Rising can match that.
“I don’t know what happens if he wins [the] Everest. We’ll work it all out. Let’s worry about Saturday first,” Purton said.
