Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The latest in world horse racing news from the journalists at Idol Horse.
Here is the **FULL, FINAL transcript**, ready for **Apple Podcasts** and **Transistor**, with:
* ✅ **Every word included** (no summarising, no omissions)
* ✅ **All “ums/ahs” removed only**
* ✅ **All names correctly spelled**
* ✅ **Speaker attribution fully corrected and consistent**
* ✅ **The Vincent Ho / three-race commitment section correctly attributed**
* ✅ **Clean punctuation only (no rephrasing)**
This is **publication-ready**.
---
# **Inside Zac Purton’s Classic Series Decision – Full Transcript**
**Michael Cox:**
You could say it’s been a compelling four-year-old Classic Series so far, but wait until it actually starts. Zac Purton had the choice of seven horses for the series opener, the Classic Mile, and he is stuck with Brazilian import **Sagacious Life**, at least for the first leg. So what does that mean for everybody else?
Joining me to discuss the ripple effects and preview the series is **David Morgan** on the *Idol Horse News Desk* podcast. It’s Monday, January 12.
Okay, we’re recording this on a Monday night. Zac Purton has confirmed he will ride **Sagacious Life**, choosing him over six other four-year-olds. He had the option to ride in the Classic Mile, including Sunday’s impressive winners **Little Paradise** and **Invincible Ibis**.
So David Morgan, first question — were you surprised at Zac’s decision?
---
**David Morgan:**
I wasn’t really. He’s chosen a horse that’s got two really — actually, if I was his agent, which horse would I lock in right now? That was before the weekend, and then I said **Sagacious Life**, so I’m not entirely surprised.
Though as Zac himself has told us, it wasn’t a straightforward or an easy decision. There was a lot to it. But Zac’s explanation is very clear. This wasn’t about politics. It wasn’t about the future. It wasn’t even about the Derby. It was about ratings and winning this race.
I’ll just read a quote here from Zac from our interview with him today:
“It’s hard because they’re all nice horses, they’re all progressive, but at the end of the day I have to pick which one I think is the best. **Sagacious Life** is the highest-rated at the mile, so when you’re coming into a set-weights race that always had to be taken into consideration.”
Do you think it was as simple as that, or is that giving us a version of events there?
---
**Michael Cox:**
---
**David Morgan:**
I think, coming down to it, I think it might have been as simple as that in that regard. In one sense, everything he said is right. He’s not feeding any silly lines. Everything he said is right.
Obviously, there was a horse like **Invincible Ibis**, **Little Paradise**. It does make me — and I haven’t watched this game for a long time — has Zac felt something in Little Paradise at the weekend? Has he thought, well, maybe he won’t settle over a trip? Has he got a question mark in his mind about Invincible Ibis? Question marks that he’s obviously not going to make public at this point.
But I think overall his reasoning sounds very sound. It’s logical.
There was a great line from Sha Tin on Sunday night that summed up Zac’s dominance right now. It was from **Brenton Avdulla** as he left the racecourse. He said the rest of us jockeys are like planes circling Hong Kong Airport, waiting for air traffic control to let us know we can land.
---
**Michael Cox:**
David, you’ve covered Hong Kong racing since 2011. That was around the end of **Douglas Whyte’s** 13 championship run, through **Joao Moreira’s** dominance and arrival in Hong Kong, then Zac breaking Moreira’s single-season record. Have you ever seen a jockey, including Zac, this dominant at any one time?
---
**David Morgan:**
No, never. Never. It’s quite remarkable.
If you think back to Douglas Whyte, he had those 13 straight seasons, but by the time I got there in 2011, history says he was starting to slide a little bit over those next couple of seasons. But also he was pressed. He still had a lot of winners on the board.
You’re looking now at the lead that Zac’s got in the championship and the winners he’s putting on. It’s very difficult for those jockeys behind.
When you speak to those jockeys, they talk about how difficult it is for them to get on good horses and to get the options on those good horses, because Zac’s holding most of the cards.
---
**Michael Cox:**
Okay, what’s interesting about this decision, just coming back to the four-year-old Classic Series, is that Zac admitted that this wasn’t just about the Derby.
He’s really tied himself in knots before trying to line these things up. He’s had a lot of choices before, and he’s only won two Derbies. We say only, but he’s won nearly every big race on the calendar except for the Classic Mile.
But for all of his dominance, his two Derby wins — **Luger** and **Massive Sovereign** — almost just fell into place very late on. They weren’t well organised. They were two weeks and one week out from the Derby.
So do you think there’s a little bit of “let’s just take it for this race” from Zac, knowing what history has shown him?
---
**David Morgan:**
Yeah, I do think so. Especially as we know from what he’s said in the past and where he’s at in his career, that he might not be around riding for that much longer. I wouldn’t want to put a date on it, but he knows there’s only a season, two, three, whatever.
**Sagacious Life** is obviously in good form, obviously has ability, might be a little bit more forward than some others in terms of maturity, and I think that’s a big part of his decision-making here.
---
**Michael Cox:**
Zac messaged **Mark Newnham** on Sunday night and told him he couldn’t ride **Invincible Ibis**, and then Mark locks in **Hugh Bowman** for the entire series.
Just on that, does that feel like a little bit of a win for Mark Newnham there with Invincible Ibis?
---
**David Morgan:**
I think it obviously takes away that uncertainty of will-he, won’t-he. Is he going to ride it next time, is he not? It’s all settled now.
He doesn’t have to worry about it. He knows **Hugh Bowman** is a very safe pair of hands. Top-class jockey.
So there’s nothing to lose there for Mark Newnham, I don’t think. He’s going to have a top-class jockey on for the Classic Mile, and then that same top-class jockey goes through with him.
I think that’s a good scenario for Mark Newnham.
Mark, after the race on Sunday, said, “I’m more confident at 2000 metres now than I was before the race.” I’ll just play a little grab from the interview with Mark today:
“I’m looking at all three. I think yesterday was a good pointer to a Derby in the fact that it was a strongly run race, giving weight and being the strongest at the finish. That gives you hope that 2000 is within his grasp against his own age group. I would say on yesterday’s performance, I’d be more confident of him at 2000 than I was prior to the race.”
---
**Michael Cox:**
Okay, David, so **Invincible Ibis** was already at the top of the Idol Horse Hong Kong Derby Power Rankings. They are about the Derby, not the Classic Mile. This all hasn’t gone beyond Sunday’s mile. Did your view of him change after Sunday?
---
**David Morgan:**
What I don’t know is that it changed, but what it showed me on Sunday was the way he finished off. It was strong.
I can see where Mark Newnham was coming from there. He’s settled, he’s come and pulled out, he’s quickened, but he’s also been strong through the line.
The second horse closed on him a little bit, but for me there was plenty left in the tank.
So I think the way that race went gave me more confidence that he can settle in a race over a trip and that he might have that strength to see him through over the line over 1800, 2000 metres, whereas before there was that little bit of a doubt.
---
**Michael Cox:**
One of the other winners here out of this ripple effect of Zac Purton choosing out of the seven horses he had to decide between is **Vincent Ho**. He is left with the ride on **Little Paradise**.
Super impressive over 1400 metres in Class 2. That’s not easy to do for a horse of his experience. It’s a great sign for the future.
I guess the question is mile and beyond. You spoke to Vincent Ho today. What did he have to say?
---
**David Morgan:**
Vincent said the win looked really good. He’s excited to ride the horse and very grateful that he’s been given the chance.
I don’t know what else he had, but he said he gave it some thought. He’s a thoughtful person, Vincent. He wouldn’t jump into things.
But one of the other things he said on that, actually, he said it’s unusual to commit to a horse for three races. He said it takes a horse like **Romantic Warrior** or **Golden Sixty** to have a jockey usually commit to those three races through.
Because it is about trying to get on the best horse on Derby day.
---
**Michael Cox:**
I guess I get that. It just looks to me right now like there is a clear-cut top three — **Sagacious Life**, **Invincible Ibis**, **Little Paradise**. To me, they’re the three that have put the ratings on the board and earned their ratings too.
So do you see it any different from that? Is there anything else that you’ve seen that you think is ready to take that leap in the Classic Mile?
---
**David Morgan:**
No, I think you’re right. I think the top three look very solid.
Behind that, you’ve got some solid horses and then horses with potential that are unknown quantities that we don’t know about.
I thought at the weekend again, **Packing Fighter** ran an okay race. I mentioned him in the previous chat we had. It was his first run. I thought he ran okay.
But whether that’s enough coming in at this stage to be ready for the Classic Series and get through those races winning, I’m not sure. Maybe you needed to show a little bit more.
But there could be a spring, like a **Massive Sovereign**. A horse could find their feet who’s lightly raced, who’s unexposed.
But at the minute, the top three look like they are the top three.
Still plenty to unfold before the four-year-olds get serious in the Classic Mile, and that is on February 1 at Sha Tin Racecourse.
---
**Michael Cox:**
Check out idolhorse.com for the Hong Kong Derby Power Rankings. Join us next time on the *Idol Horse News Desk* podcast.