World class jockey Zac Purton has spun his magic aboard Artorius, answering an SOS from the enigmatic entire’s connections to guide him to his first win in two years in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes.
A championship winner in Hong Kong many times over, the Australian-born Purton was sought out by the horse’s managing owner Henry Field, who felt the gifted hoop was the man who could get Artorius to jump on terms.
The four-year-old won the Blue Diamond Stakes at two and had subsequently been placed multiple times at Group 1 level, including in two of his three starts in Europe last year, but was conceding too much start to his rivals.
“Amazing performance by the horse and an amazing performance by the genius that is Zac Purton,” Field said.
“He was good enough as a three-year-old to place in a Jubilee, a July Cup, a Coolmore and a Caulfield Guineas but we just needed a rider that could get him to jump.
“Zac Purton is as good a gate rider as there is in the southern hemisphere.
“He’s a great horse, he is a great rider, you put those two things together and magic can happen.”
Artorius raced worse than midfield and appeared to have a task ahead when New Zealander Imperatriz shot to the front with 200m to go.
But under vigorous riding from Purton, Artorius ($9.50) snuck up behind the leading pack and burst through late to deny Imperatriz ($2.10 betr fav) by a head with Electric Girl ($11) holding on for third, another three-quarters of a length away.
“The last 150 metres he launched, he just jumped out of the ground,” Purton said.
“He’s just a bit tricky, he comes with a little bit of baggage but he’s obviously very talented.”
Co-trainer Anthony Freedman said he would discuss plans for Artorius with the horse’s owners but confirmed the T J Smith Stakes (1200m) in April was a serious option.
He also revealed he hadn’t been overly happy with Artorius until the past month and felt the decision to tweak his gear and keep the horse’s mind on the job pre-race were crucial, as was Purton’s ability to get the horse to jump well.
“He’s a world-class jockey and I didn’t give him too may instructions, most of the instructions were pre-race things like keep him moving, keep him active, keep him interested,” Freedman said.
“He did that really well. The start is everything to this horse. If he starts he can win, nearly anywhere.”
Imperatriz came across the Tasman as the winner of 12 of her 17 starts in New Zealand and was far from disgraced, jockey James Mcdonald describing her effort as “gallant”.