Craig Kerry
Zac Purton is out to make up for lost opportunities in the Golden Eagle, rather than his defeat on Ka Ying Rising in the Everest, when he has his first ride in the $10 million race at Randwick.
Australia’s nine-time Hong Kong premiership winner was at Rosehill on Thursday to take the Chris Waller-trained Autumn Boy through his paces in preparation for Saturday’s clash with star mare Sheza Alibi in the rich race for four-year-olds. Purton takes over from regular jockey James McDonald, who is riding at Flemington.
Purton’s previous chances to ride in the race, which he believed included 2023 winner Obamburumai, have been denied because the Golden Eagle did not meet the Hong Kong Jockey’s group 1 criteria when assessing requests from its jockeys to compete overseas. A timely suspension at home opened the door for Purton this year, as the race rises to group 1 status.
The opportunity comes just two weeks after he piloted Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising to a narrow loss to Tempted in their Everest defence at Randwick. Purton took a sit from wide draw on the $1.35 favourite after a brutal early pace was set.
The champion surged late to go down by a half neck, sparking debate about the tactics and leading to posts about Purton’s return for redemption on Saturday.
“I don’t feel like there’s any need for redemption or anything about sticking it to anyone,” Purton said. “It’s horse racing. You win some races and you lose some. It’s just what happens.”
As for going from the hunted to the hunter on Saturday with $9 chance Autumn Boy against $1.75 favourite Sheza Alibi and jockey Luke Nolen, Purton said: “It’s a horse race, so I’m still expected to win and deliver on my horse, so the expectations are certainly no different. I just need to try to get the job done.”
Purton believes the draw in gate four, alongside Sheza Alibi in five, will help. Autumn Boy has finished second to Sheza Alibi in their past three clashes.
“I’ll either be behind her or in front of her, so that adds another layer of intrigue to the race,” he said.
“I’ll ride my horse to suit my horse, but at least I’d like to think we will be in fairly similar positions, so I’ll be able to keep an eye on her and I suppose she’ll be keeping an eye on me as well.
“It’s a strong race, there’s obviously some chances there outside of those horses, but I just hope to give it a nice, clean run and give him his chance. That’s all I can do.”
“She’s obviously an outstanding horse, Sheza Alibi, and has a very good record head to head with Autumn Boy, so it’s not going to be easy.
“I’ll mostly be guided by how Chris would like me to ride the horse, but I’ll certainly have a few things in mind and up my sleeve as well.
“He probably needs a little bit of luck to go his way. But he just needs the right tempo to get into the right rhythm. He travelled a bit keen last time. They’re taking the blinkers off, getting back onto a dry track I think suits him as well.”
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