Purton recovered from a mishap to take the ride on Exultant.[/caption]
Exultant was sent off the 1.5 favourite to repeat his win of 12 months ago but it was never going to be a flashy, win-as-you-like, display.
“It’s never easy in small fields when you’re on the favourite,” Purton said. “Everyone goes out there to make your life difficult and they tried to do that again today but fortunately I was on a horse that was able to absorb some pressure and still be able to fight out a finish.”
Stablemate Time Warp set a solid tempo up front and Purton settled one back, slipstreaming, ready to make a determined drive for home at the most opportune moment.
“He was the best horse – just get him up there, let him travel and let him do his job,” Purton said. “I was surprised Furore kept kicking up on the inside, he had every chance just to drop down and give himself an easy run but he wanted to make my life difficult and in turn made his own life difficult – that in turn made Chefano do a little more work and set my fellow alight as well.
“I thought, once again, I was out on my feet at the 200 (metres) but today it was like he was waiting for them a little more, it’s like he’s become more cunning and I could feel, when they were coming, he started to surge underneath.”
Exultant’s win meant that Purton bagged both of the afternoon’s features, having captured the Group 3 Sha Tin Vase Handicap (1200m) on the John Moore-trained Thanks Forever.
But, despite riding a four-timer, he was unable to shake off his rival Joao Moreira in the jockeys’ title race. The Brazilian matched the Australian’s quartet to ensure the pair ended the day all-square on 123 wins.