Last year Zac Purton was the Champion Jockey of Hong Kong who was the toast of Melbourne when he won the Caulfield Cup on the Japanese horse Admire Rakti. He then went into the Melbourne Cup as the well fancied favourite and everyone was expecting more success. Unfortunately as we all know the result was not the one that anyone wanted to see.
Twelve months is a long time in racing and here we are again with Zac lining up in the 2015 Melbourne Cup with another Japanese runner who just happens to be the favourite.
Zac Purton
Fame Game is a five year old Stallion who has ticked all the boxes when it comes to the ideal Melbourne Cup horse. He stormed into Cup calculations when rattling home late to just miss out on winning the Japanese Group One 3200 metre Tenno Sho carrying 58kg back in May. Finishing second put the rubber stamp on a Melbourne Cup mission.
It was at this stage that Zac Purton was booked for the ride on the back of such a great showing. Asked if he was approached to ride anyone else in the Cup Zac said, “I didn’t want to ride anything else”.
After a 24 week break the Yoshitada Munakata trained Fame Game was first up in the Caulfield Cup. Many believed it was to be a Cup trial and were expecting the horse to gain a much needed hit out. They weren’t disappointed.
Fame Game sat out the back of the field and entered the Caulfield straight in last position. Zac managed to weave his way through the field to finish fast in sixth position. It screamed fantastic ‘Cup Trail’ to every man and his dog.
While Purton was grilled for his ride in the Caulfield Cup it was plain to see that we now had potentially one of the shortest priced favourites for the Melbourne Cup in many years. Fame Game is currently $4.00 in most markets.
Fame Game has the same Sire as Admire Rakti and will carry the same colours as another Japanese horse in 2006 Winner Delta Blues. When discussing the two horses Purton said, “Fame Game is a much better stayer while Admire Rakti had a slightly better turn of foot.”
The Flemington course will be ideal for Fame Game and he will cherish the long straight when the whips are cracking next week. The only possible downside could be the weather. Fame Game likes a hard track. When asked if rain on Cup day would be an issue for Fame Game, Zac mentioned, “Yes, he needs it dry.”
If the weather holds out and the racing Gods align we can expect to see Fame Game taking out the Melbourne Cup for 2015 and giving Zac Purton another feather in his amazing career to date.
This years Cup is looking like being one of the best fields we have seen for sometime. The last word goes to Purton, “It’s the best race in the World.”
