Overview
- Maureen Haggas condemned Purton’s ride on Lake Forest at Randwick as the worst she had seen and said he rode “like a big sissy,” claiming stable instructions were ignored.
- Lake Forest finished last of 12 in the King Charles III Stakes, about seven lengths behind Ceolwulf, after Purton had earlier won The Everest and the Sydney Stakes on the same card.
- Purton defended his tactics by saying the horse gave no response when the pace lifted, quipped about rewatching his Everest win, and suggested Haggas “must’ve been on the drink.”
- Haggas also questioned James McDonald’s seventh on Sam Hawkens and contrasted Australian rides with those in England, Ireland and France, a view Purton publicly rejected.
- A clip of Haggas’s interview has surpassed 1.1 million views on X, while trainer Rob Heathcote praised Purton’s Sydney Stakes ride on Rothfire as “an absolute pearler,” with no formal complaints reported.