PURTON V MCDONALD - A MOUTH-WATERING BATTLE BETWEEN TWO WORLD CLASS RIDERS

By Darren Winningham | Thursday, December 5, 2024

It appears that the ‘KING’ (Zac Purton) of Hong Kong racing’s crown is under threat on Sunday at the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) and racing enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting the mouth-watering prospect of the upcoming battle between two world class riders.

In the media conference held at Sha Tin races on Thursday morning Australian James McDonald confidently declared he has a solid book of rides on Sunday.

Romantic Warrior, who McDonald will partner in the HK$40 million LONGINES Hong Kong Cup – looking to win it for the third successive time and in the process rewrite Hong Kong racing history, is the obvious standout from the McDonald rides and McDonald posted an ominous warning to his rivals when stating, “He (Romantic Warrior) is in superb form, and he is going to be awfully hard to beat. He is probably peaking up better than he did last year for the same race.”

That’s throwing down the gauntlet in no uncertain terms.

But wait there’s more.

J MAC went on to identify four other chances who are flying:

Race 1 – Run Run Timing trained by C Yip – blinkers on for the first time
Race 3 – Divano for Francis Lui
Race 6 – Family Jewel for Casper Fownes
Race 9 – Charming Legend for Danny Shum (trainer of Romantic Warrior)

“Zac may not start favorite in the jockeys challenge for once!”, McDonald quipped with a huge smile.

So, the scene is set – it used to be Moreira and Purton going punch for punch on these big days, but now it looks like ‘move over Moreira’ … although you should never count out a rider of his ability …but the heavyweight title is now firmly billed as McDonald versus Purton.

James McDonald comes into the day off a winning treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday night … not that he needed a confidence-builder, but those results certainly wouldn’t have done him any harm ... while Purton, as always, can just sit quietly and point to his record if anybody thinks he will be easy to dismiss.

Purton v McDonald!

It should be a fascinating watch, because one thing we know for certain is that both riders are up for it and neither of these champions will give an inch.

It’s a cracking contest within a contest, adding yet another impressive layer to a great day’s racing.

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