Zac Purton ended Douglas Whyte’s 13-season dominance by winning his first Hong Kong Jockeys’ Championship in 2013/14 with 112 wins, and in claiming his second title in 2017/18, he halted Joao Moreira’s title streak at three. During his first championship season, the Australian ace raced to what was then the fastest 50 wins in Hong Kong history and became the second rider, after Whyte, to reach 100 wins in a season. Purton lost his title when he finished second to Moreira in 2014/15 with 95 wins, a position he filled for the next two seasons, including when recording his second century of wins in 2016/17. His second championship was a remarkable effort as he chased down Moreira to take the lead for the first time that season on 10 June, 2018. Five weeks later, at the season’s conclusion, he had outpointed Moreira 136-134. The Australian ace won a third consecutive championship in 2019/20, with 147 wins and three Group 1 victories. His triumph aboard Exultant in the 2020 QEII Cup made him the only rider in history to have won every Group 1 race on the Hong Kong calendar. Purton’s championship-winning streak was stopped at three in 2020/21, but he reclaimed the title in 2021/22. He claimed his fifth title after another enthralling battle with Moreira, enjoying 136 wins, including his third Stewards’ Cup triumph aboard the John Size-trained Waikuku. He also sealed a third International Jockeys’ Championship title. Purton closed out a highly successful 2024/25 season with his eighth Hong Kong Champion Jockey crown. During that season, he also broke Whyte’s all-time Hong Kong wins record, which had stood at 1,813. In addition, Purton formed a successful partnership with Ka Ying Rising, achieving three Group 1 successes in that season. Purton began his career in Brisbane and was an apprentice sensation, winning the championship there in 2003. He then moved to Sydney where he finished runner-up in the championship twice. Purton relocated to Hong Kong in September 2007. He also boasts a famous Royal Ascot victory for Hong Kong, riding the Danny Shum-trained Little Bridge to success in the 2012 King’s Stand Stakes. He was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2025.
