Zac Purton has clapped back at Maureen Haggas after she branded his ride on Lake Forest last Saturday as ‘about the worst’ she’d seen in her life.
The wife of UK trainer William Haggas did not hold back during an interview on Racing TV overnight, saying she was ‘appalled’ by Purton’s steer in the King Charles III Stakes at Randwick.
“As far as I’m concerned, Lake Forest never had a race,” she said.
“It was about the worst ride I’ve seen in my entire life.”
She accused Hong Kong’s champion jockey of not following instruction on the Golden Eagle winner.
“Everybody knows he (Lake Forest) is a horse that you have to tell him that he’s got to do it,” Haggas said.
“He (Purton) knew that, and was told it, and he just sat there like a big sissy.
“I was horrified.
“We went all that way, at huge expense on the owner’s part, and it just makes you realise how lucky we are with the jockeys we have in England, Ireland and France, when you compare them to the rides we got on Saturday, which were really shockingly awful.”
Purton responded in cheeky fashion when quizzed about her comments by Gareth Hall on SENTrack’s Giddy Up program on Thursday.
“I thank her for her advice,” Purton said.
“I haven’t had time to watch the replay, yet, because I’ve been too busy watching replays of myself winning the $20 million Everest.”
Purton said Haggas was entitled to her opinion, but was left ‘a little bit bemused’ by it.
“I followed Ceolwulf, who went on to win the race,” he said.
“So, I thought he wasn’t a bad horse to be following and he put seven lengths on me.
“As soon as they quickened, my horse just went up and down on the one spot.
“He gave me no response, at all.
“I’m a little bit bemused at her take on the race, but she’s entitled to that, no problem.”