Champion jockey Zac Purton will have his first ride for John Size in almost three years when he takes over on Luger in the BMW Hong Kong Derby on March 15.
It is a rare meeting of convenience between the two as Purton did not have a Derby ride and Size was left without a rider for the gelding after Douglas Whyte elected last week to stick with Richard Gibson-trained Giant Treasure.
"I would like to have kept the same jockey as Douglas has ridden Luger since his second start as a two-year-old and knows him very well, but obviously I needed a new jockey when Douglas made his decision to ride the other horse," Size said.
"Zac is the current champion and one of the leading riders here again this season and I think Luger deserves to have one of the top jockeys."
Whyte won the Derby two years ago on Akeed Mofeed for Gibson and Giant Treasure's owner, Pan Sutong, and has had a strong connection with them through multiple Group One winner Gold-Fun, and the South African rider did harbour doubts about Luger's ability to stay 2,000 metres.
"I don't know why he switched but that's a choice Douglas had to make. The horse has not put a foot wrong for quite some time and I'm very happy with him going towards the Derby," said Size, who doesn't feel the question of whether Luger will stay can be answered until he is tested on Derby day but he believes all the signs are encouraging.
"Since his first start as a griffin, Luger always looked like he would want ground. When you watch him in a race, there's nothing there that makes you think he wouldn't stay. He travels kindly and does everything right and when he won at 1,400m at the end of last season he was clearly looking for more distance at that stage."
Luger's season was in danger of being wrecked by misfortune when he suffered a heart arrhythmia in November on resuming and then a fever in December that set him back again, but Size pointed to the gelding's latest win on February 15 as an encouraging guide to whether Luger might stay.
"His first run for three months, his first attempt at 1,600m with a big weight against fit horses? To be honest, I'd have been happy if he'd just run a good race but Luger went out and won because that's the way he does things, that's the horse he is," Size said.
"He hadn't had races to prepare him for his first go at the mile, he just turned up and ran it out well. It certainly wasn't discouraging if you're looking for reasons why he will run out 2,000 metres."
Purton's last ride for Size was Emperor Claudius at Happy Valley in July 2012, and before that Sapelli in October 2011, although he does have a solid record for Size with eight wins and eight seconds from 67 rides.
"I haven't really had a firm Derby horse this season so Luger's a great one to pick up and it's great to get a chance for John," Purton said.
"The Derby horses seem fairly even this year but Luger's a quality horse and if he stays the 2,000 metres he's going to run well."
