John Michael Purtell (1921 – 8 March 2017) was an Australian jockey who rode three

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

winners.

Career

Purtell, also known as 'Gentleman Jack’, rode his first race in 1936 at the age of 15. He was an apprentice jockey to Ted Temby at his Mordialloc, Victoria stables. He won his first race on Bonus at

Mentone, Victoria Mentone is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Mentone recorded a population of 13,197 at the . It is known loc ...

in April 1937. Purtell rode more than 1700 winners including three Melbourne Cups. He was suspended only once. The best horse he rode was

Comic Court Comic Court (1945–1973) was a most versatile post-war Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse who set race records at distances of 6 furlongs (1,200 metres) and 2 miles (3,200 metres). He won the 1950 Melbourne Cup carrying and set an Australa ...

to 19 wins even though he opted not to ride it in the 1950 Melbourne Cup. He won seven Melbourne Jockey Premierships – 1946/47, 1948/49, 1949/50, 1950/51, 1954/55, 1960/61 and 1961/62. In January 1953, he suffered severe head injuries in a race fall at

Caulfield Racecourse Caulfield Racecourse Reserve is located nine kilometres from the Melbourne CBD, on the boundary of Caulfield and Caulfield East in Melbourne's south eastern suburbs. The Reserve was set aside for three purposes, racing, recreation and a publ ...

. Purtell rode Fighting Force when it triple dead-heated with both Pandie Sun and Ark Royal in the 1956

Hotham Handicap The Hotham Handicap, raced as the Lexus Archer Stakes, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, held under quality handicap conditions, over a distance of 2500 metres, held annually at Flemin ...

, a rare event in racing. He retired in 1966 at the age of 45 and he became a Stipendiary Steward at the Victorian Racing Club until March 1981. Purtell married in 1949 to Norma Giles and seven thousand people turned up to the church in

Clifton Hill, Victoria Clifton Hill is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Clifton Hill recorded a population of 6,606 at the 2021 cen ...

. He died on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland on 8 March 2017, aged 96. Purtell and his wife had two children, Garry and Mark. He was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004. A sculpture of Purtell by John Frith is held by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Major wins

– Hiraji (1947), Wodalla (1953),

Rising Fast Rising Fast (1949 - 1978) was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only horse to complete the Spring Grand Slam, winning the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, and Cox Plate in 1954. He also won the 1955 Caulfield Cup and c ...

(1954) *

Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Moo ...

– Alister (1950), Bronton (1951),

(1954), Ray Ribbon (1956) *

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under handicap conditions, although the Melbourne Racing Club is in the process of turning the race into weight for age (WFA) conditions. This is for all horses ...

– Velocity (1941)

References

External links

Australian Racing Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purtell, Jack 1921 births 2017 deaths Jockeys from Melbourne Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees