Zac Purton lands 2015 Doomben 10,000 and Stradbroke Handicap mount
Clinton Payne - 13 May 2015
Champion Hong Kong-based Australian jockey Zac Purton has secured a ride aboard the genuine Doomben 10,000 and Stradbroke Handicap contender.
Purton has been engaged to partner top Kiwi galloper Sacred Star, for trainer Tony Pike, in the rich feature sprints.
The Group I-winning sprinter suffered a minor setback last week in the lead-up to the BTC Cup when found to have a stone bruise which forced his scratching from the race won by the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Hot Snitzel.
Pike told News Limited on Tuesday that Sacred Star was capable of overcoming the issue without it causing major interference in the lead-up to the $650,000 Doomben 10,000 (1350m) on Saturday week.
"We’ve been working on his feet all weekend and they are pretty much 95 percent right now,” Pike said.
"He was a fit, forward horse when he came over so he won’t lose much fitness and he always goes well fresh.
"Hopefully he will be ready to gallop by Thursday or Friday and then he will have a good hit out at Doomben next Tuesday and run in the 10,000.”
Purton has had a strong association with Sacred Star’s owners Raffles Racing previously in Australia winning the 2014 Doncaster Mile and George Main Stakes aboard the recently retired Sacred Falls.
Sacred Star remains hard in the market for the Doomben 10,000 and Stradbroke Handicap at $13 and $21 respectively.