Maureen Haggas has apologised to James McDonald … but not Zac Purton following her epic jockey spray against the two champion jockeys after their respective rides on Lake Forest and Sam Hawkens at The Everest race-day went viral.
Talking to At The Races Haggas admitted, as pointed out by Purton in his response to Haggas’ criticism, that she shouldn’t have gone after James McDonald.
“I probably went a bit over the top…”
Maureen Haggas reflects on her recent comments surrounding Zac Purton’s ride aboard Lake Forest in Australia… pic.twitter.com/hnNMuaOuCG
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 24, 2025
“I probably went a bit over the top …and I was wrong to involve James McDonald who I have apologised to, because he did nothing wrong on our horse, but it just sort of came out at the end … and that was wrong,” admitted Haggas.
“It’s caused a bit of controversy, but everyone is entitled to an opinion. Not everybody will agree with me and I don’t agree with a lot of people’s opinion … but everyone is entitled to an opinion, I suppose, provided they are pontificating on something they have got a bit of knowledge on.
‘It’s not like me. I’m not a jockey-basher. I was brought up with a jockey. I know what they go through. It is not easy to get where they want to get … so I understand that but, the fact that I was so cross four days later makes you realise how cross I really was.
‘It’s done and dusted now. It’s over and it’s given everyone a lot of laughs.”
It was a friendly interview on home soil and Haggas was comfortable enough to conclude with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour of her own, indirectly referencing Purton’s ‘She must have been on the drink’ comment.
“The great thing today is we’ve won three races and the prizes have all been alcohol, so I’ll have it all on the way home,” laughed Haggas.
“It’s just my dream come true, so you are lucky you spoke to me before I got stuck in.”
Alls well that ends well.
Just a bit of extra theatre in the theatre that is horse racing.
You wouldn’t expect anything less.
