Aa Aa Aa

Zac Purton and Douglas Whyte have spoken to Idol Horse in recent days as the former chases down the latter’s record Hong Kong tally of 1,813 wins: each has spoken sincerely about their respect for the other, but when it came to one bit of off-track mischief, Purton reveals he never quite got the better of his old rival.

During a one-on-one conversation with Andrew Le Jeune on The Idol Horse Podcast, Purton tells of some tit-for-tat pranking involving an elevator after racing at Happy Valley that landed him in front of chief stipe Kim Kelly.

“We all live in the same building here at Sha Tin,” Purton tells Le Jeune. “I would be pulling my car up and I’d see Douglas walking up the stairs and he’d give me a glance, and he clearly knew it was me, and he’d start scampering up the stairs, get in the door, get to the lift and by the time I’d get in there of course he would be gone.”

ZAC PURTON / 2025 / Idol Horse Podcast

Whyte lived on one of the higher floors, and as he exited the elevator, Purton says, “He’d sort of press all the floors (buttons) in the lift, so it would take a long time to come back down, and I used to have a little bit of a chuckle with myself and think, okay, all right, got me again, no problem.”

But then came the Friday before the Hong Kong International Races in 2019: Purton and Whyte, by that time a first-season trainer, arrived back at the apartment block car park after the gala dinner. Purton was set to ride Aethero in the Hong Kong Sprint two days later and was wasting hard to ride at 117lb.

“I had a few champagnes at the gala,” he points out. “When we pulled up, Douglas Whyte was getting out of his car and I said, ‘Here, quick, quick, quick, let’s go up there’. So, we got in the lift before him and then I pressed all the lift buttons as well.”

Zac Purton eyes off a bottle of champagne at Sha Tin
ZAC PURTON / Sha Tin // 2011 /// Photo by Kenneth Chan

A week later, respected stipe Steve Railton asked Purton what the elevator prank was all about and he replied that he didn’t remember doing that and asked “Are you sure it was me?” and suggested “the kids” might have done it.

“I got to Happy Valley the next Wednesday and Kim Kelly … pulled me into the stewards’ room before the first,” Purton continues, laughing at the recollection. “He had the security camera of the footage in the lift and he goes, ‘Now, you say this is not you?’ Well, I just started laughing. I come home and I said, ‘Nicole, do you remember me doing that?’ She just goes, ‘Yeah; yeah.’ So, the one time I got him back, he dobbed me in.”

Purton also speaks of his wife Nicole’s positivity in their early days in the city, saying there “was no bigger supporter,” and also highlighted the backing he received during that tough campaign from local Chinese trainers – notably Ricky Yiu – and how those trainers have since become a force on the circuit.

But his overall comments to Le Jeune about Whyte show the deep respect he has for the 13-time champion’s accomplishments, and even if they were spikey rivals back in the day, he is on good terms with the great rider turned trainer.

“It’s like chalk and cheese now compared to what it used to be like,” Purton says, and then outlines just how influential Whyte has been.

“He was the one that set the standard and raised the bar,” he says. “He was the one that, you know, wrote the book for the way jockeys in Hong Kong operate now.

“It’s because of him that I operate the way I do and the other jockeys here do as well,” he adds, “so he changed the landscape.” ∎

David Morgan is Chief Journalist at Idol Horse. As a sports mad young lad in County Durham, England, horse racing hooked him at age 10. He has a keen knowledge of Hong Kong and Japanese racing after nine years as senior racing writer and racing editor at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. David has also worked in Dubai and spent several years at the Racenews agency in London. His credits include among others Racing Post, ANZ Bloodstock News, International Thoroughbred, TDN, and Asian Racing Report.

View all articles by David Morgan.

Don’t miss out on all the action.

Subscribe to the idol horse newsletter