If all goes according to plan at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday, Zac Purton will make history as the first jockey to record 2,000 wins in Hong Kong, adding yet another accolade to a career full of them.

Even so, the milestone, when it comes, will be a far cry from the uncertain start the Australian made to life in the city as a fresh-faced 24-year-old almost two decades ago.

But from that first victory aboard the Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained horse Elfhelm at Happy Valley on December 19, 2007, to his 1,999th triumph on Armor Golden Eagle on the same city track on Wednesday, Purton has been far from alone in his endeavours.

Nicole Purton may not ride the horses, but she has been with her husband every step of the way. The couple sat down with the South China Morning Post to discuss chicken wire, building a brand and why Hong Kong is the most intense racing environment in the world.

Team Purton

You do not get to Zac Purton’s position without being “resilient” and “determined”; you do not handle Nicole Purton’s role as wife, mother and partner without a bit of both either.

The couple are a team in every sense of the word, handling together the world’s toughest racing scene on and off the track.

And there is no great secret to their relationship, as far as Nicole is concerned.

“I just fully believe in Zac,” Nicole said. “A lot of the time, no matter what decisions we make together, if it’s something he feels strongly about, I believe in him. And I trust him, and I’d like to think it’s the same – whether it’s about racing or the kids or business opportunities or whatever. I think we just believe in each other and we have fun together. We have a fun life.

“Whether you’re starting out grinding your way to the top, or you’ve made it, life can be really stressful and everyone has pressures. But we try and make the most of every second.”

Zac, meanwhile, recognises the sacrifices his wife has made so he could reach the pinnacle of his sport.

“Nicole’s always trying to do everything she can to help my career and myself,” Zac said. “She’s had to sacrifice a lot, and that’s not an easy thing to do.”

When asked what his reaction would have been 19 years ago if someone had told him “one day you’ll be Hong Kong’s most decorated jockey”, the 43-year-old’s response is that “Nicole always knew”.

“I honestly did,” Nicole said. “We have a friend whose opinion we really respect. And, he sat there very early on at lunch and he said to us, ‘I think it’s not long till we’re sitting here talking about you being champion jockey’. And I was like, ‘of course, that’s obvious, I already know that!’

“But looking back on that conversation now, it’s like a dream come true. I truly did believe he was going to be the best.”

“It just goes to show that it is achievable,” Zac said. “And someone else someday might come along and do what I’ve done and ride for even longer.”

First impressions

Sitting on their sofa at home in Sha Tin, Zac and Nicole look every bit the settled couple and one far removed from the pair that arrived aged 24 and 19 in September 2007.

For Purton, just finding his way to his job in the morning proved something of a daunting task. And at one point, the eight-time Hong Kong champion jockey even considered heading back to Australia.

Nicole stopped him.

“Well, my first memory of Hong Kong was basically getting dumped in the apartment and knowing I had trackwork the next morning. I went downstairs and I had no idea how to get to the track,” Purton said.

“You know, there’s chicken wire fence around everywhere, security guards. So I didn’t know which direction to head in. I was just like, ‘oh my God, where am I, what have I done?’

“It was a bit of a realisation of ‘what have I gotten myself into here?’. But, you know, we loved the city. We love the racing. We love the culture. We love the people. Right from the start. So it was an adventure for us. And it was one that we were enjoying, even though it was hard to get opportunities at the start.

“There was that period towards the end of my contract, because I was initially here for six months, where I said to Nicole when we were on holiday ‘we should probably get home now’. And she didn’t want to. So I said ‘OK, I’ll stick it out a little bit longer’.”

“I was like, why? We’re having so much fun!” Nicole said.

Purton added: “Obviously I got the opportunity through trainer Ricky Yiu at the end of the season to ride for him and rode 10 winners in that last month.

“And that gave the trainers and the owners, a little bit of confidence to give me some more opportunities. But, it was just timing. I was very lucky I gave it that extra little bit of time.”

Expectation v reality

Zac Purton is the first to admit that he did not see the future as it has unfolded.

Records were not on his mind at the start, certainly breaking every record there is to break did not register itself as a goal.

“You know, you come and hope to ride one winner, hoping to have some success. And over a period of time, if you’re here long enough, then some things become achievable. And the records have come with that. But, no, never did I think that we’d be here 19 years and have the success we’ve had and built the family and life that we’ve got.”

There is no doubt the pair and their two children – daughter Roxy, 11, and son Cash, eight – are enjoying life as much as they ever have, although for Zac Purton the joy of the present only serves to highlight how hard things were in the beginning.

Not that he or Nicole realised it at the time.

“We’ve had fun from the second we got here,” Nicole said. “But it’s less stressful because I didn’t realise how hard it was at the beginning. When you’re building your relationships and you’re building your career and you’re trying to get to the top, that’s really hard.”

For Zac, the pace of life in Hong Kong and the competitive nature of his sport in the city make it a great place to live. He is not convinced everyone understands what it really means to succeed here.

“From the outside looking in, people think Hong Kong is just another place where you race horses, but they don’t realise what goes on behind the scenes; how hard you need to work, the opportunities you need to get, the sacrifices you make, how intense the media and the focus on Hong Kong racing is here,” Zac said.

“It’s like it’s on steroids compared to everywhere else. But the more success you have, the more comfortable you get. And obviously I get a lot of opportunities now, so it makes life a lot easier than what it was when I first arrived.”

Opportunity knocks

With only 88 meetings in a calendar year, there are a limited number of chances for jockeys to prove themselves. But dealing with that pressure is one thing; gaining and maintaining relationships with owners and trainers – and consequently key rides – is another.

Purton has endured a relentless hip injury – among falls and kidney stones – as well as Covid, and the well-documented rivalries with fellow Hong Kong champion jockeys Douglas Whyte and Joao Moreria.

Yet the 43-year-old still remains at the top of his game and racing in Hong Kong is currently a one-man affair. Purton has 121 wins so far this season, with his nearest rival and fellow Australian Hugh Bowman sitting on 57.

As the city’s most decorated rider, Purton holds 35 Group 1 wins and has exceeded 100 winners in 11 seasons including the past 10 in a row.

The Australian Racing Hall of Famer has also set the record for most wins in a season with 179 and most prize money in a single season – an incredible HK$277,712,060 (US$35 million) – in 2022–23.

The next landmark should come this weekend, when he will extend his lead as the most successful jockey in the city’s history, having broken Whyte’s all-time record of 1,813 in January 2025.

Building the brand

There are many things that separate Zac Purton from the rest on the track – off the track, he also has a lead on his peers.

The Australian is the only one to have his own merchandise, which is a side of the partnership Nicole has driven hard after being inspired by a passing remark.

Already incredibly popular, the Zac Purton collection includes caps, hoodies and now a Ka Ying Rising jacket that features the racing silks of the world’s best racehorse.

“It all started because somebody said to me once, ‘why doesn’t Zac have his own brand?’,” Nicole said.

“I like fashion and I believe in Zac, and I think that he has a big fan base. So I got some hats made, then that led to some hoodies. They’re quite a simple design, that’s very much like Zac’s style. It’s just led to bringing our interests into the brand for Zac to showcase – what he loves about his life and fashion – so that’s brought on the golf shirts that Zac actually designed.

“And also the Ka Ying Rising jacket, that’s been so popular. He’s the people’s horse, he’s just this amazing unicorn that we want to celebrate.”

Giving back

It should come as no surprise that golf forms a part of the pair’s lives away from racing.

A battle between player and course seems ideally suited to an athlete who excels at another individual pursuit.

Like many who play the game, Zac has a “love, hate” relationship with golf.

“It’s taken me a long time to start to get to where I am now,” he said. “I understand the game a lot better, but it’s just getting out of the city or getting out of the house and doing something. I’ve always been an outdoors person, so I like being out on the grass among nature to a certain degree. But I love the challenge of the game. I like the camaraderie among the group that you play with, but ultimately it’s just myself versus the course.”

A regular among those who play in the pro-am events before LIV Golf Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Open, Purton has made a point of giving back through the game in Macau.

“What we’re trying to do is give the kids within the schools in Macau an opportunity to play the game,” said Zac, who is president of the Macau Professional Golfers Association. “So, we’ll give them some plastic clubs to start with and then give them some skills-based training to try and get them to enjoy the game in the hope one day that one of those kids will end up on the Asian Tour.

“It can be a little bit of an elitist game, so without a membership or some funding there are a lot of kids that can’t actually afford to play it. So, by giving these young kids an opportunity and a pathway forward, hopefully if they look like they’ve got the ability then of course we’ll sponsor them and try and help them as much as we can.”

Proudest moments

While people see the wins, they do not see what goes on behind the scenes, and it is the work her husband does when no one is watching that makes Nicole most proud.

“When Zac is sick and he has to continue to watch his weight, his diet, get in the bath and sweat, be professional, get all his form done, go to the races, ride and deliver – that makes me really proud. That’s hard work, you’ve either got that in you or you don’t,” Nicole said.

Her proudest moment involving his performances on the track came when he rode Ka Ying Rising to glory in October’s Group One Everest, the world’s richest race on turf with a purse of A$20 million (US$14.3 million), because there was “so much pressure”.

The pair travelled home to Australia where they dispelled any doubt from media and punters that Ka Ying Rising was indeed the world’s best sprinter.

“That was a really big moment. That was a lot for the whole team to go through,” Nicole said.

Zac Purton’s legacy

In the future, when it is debated where Purton sits among the greats of the sport, his wins, his utter dominance of the Hong Kong racing scene and his connection with Ka Ying Rising will undoubtedly be high on the list of points people use to place him at the top.

Purton himself recognises that the latter of those will be the hardest for him to escape from, not that he necessarily believes it should be what defines him.

“I’m most proud of how consistent I’ve been over such a long period of time. But that’s probably not going to be my legacy, whether my legacy is now going to be tied to Ka Ying Rising or whether it’s going to be seen as being resilient, determined – you know, whatever it is – it’s for other people to judge, really,” Zac said.

Nicole, meanwhile, has a different perspective on things, and believes alongside the trophies and statistics, it will be her husband’s leadership qualities that people ultimately remember him for.

“I really respect what Zac’s done for the jockeys room – I think he’s a real leader. Whether you’re in competition or not, Zac has the best interests of all his colleagues at heart,” she said.

“Zac’s done a great job of working with the club to get really good medical help, we have great physios and the gym is set up. I hope when we aren’t here, somebody else can step into that role and really make sure that the jockeys’ room is the best it can be at all times.

“Secondly, I think the greatest thing that Zac’s done is he has proved you can make it in Hong Kong. So many people come and go and they think, ‘it is really hard here’, but people don’t understand just how hard Hong Kong is. Not just the jockeys, but for everybody who’s working really hard. But Zac’s proven that if you just keep going and keep doing your best, you can make it.”

Ka Ying Rising

As Purton points out, he is now eternally connected with Ka Ying Rising, who has broken a Hong Kong record of his own and sits alone as the world’s best.

Twenty races unbeaten, prize money of HK$150 million, and the expectation of adding millions more puts the David Hayes-trained thoroughbred in the conversation for greatest of all time.

Zac would not argue with that assessment of a five-year-old already the highest-rated horse in Hong Kong history.

“He went to Australia and beat the best sprinters in town. He’s the best sprinter in the world. He’s broken track record after track record,” Zac said.

“He still looks like he’s got a fair bit of racing ahead of him, and he seems like he’s just starting to peak now. Every time I think he’s as good as he can be, he seems to be even a little bit better again. So I don’t know when that’s going to stop. Hopefully it doesn’t and hopefully it keeps getting better.”

And if Ka Ying Rising was to be Zac’s final champion, would that be quite a way to go out?

“It would be very fitting, for sure,” Zac said. “I’m still always looking for the next good horse and the next champion, but no other horse will ever be like Ka Ying Rising, for me anyway.

“I think it’s a great way for me to finish my career with a horse like that, going out with such a high.”

The future

Zac has won every Group One and essentially broken every record there is to break, so what is next? Does he look ahead at the next record, or look back and say and just enjoy what he’s achieved?

“What is the next record? You know, there really is nothing else. The only thing for me to achieve would be a Melbourne Cup. I’d love to win the Melbourne Cup, but that is extremely unlikely and very hard,” Zac said.

“But if I can win one more race, that would be it, but now that I’ve won the Everest I feel happy and content.”