Overreacting is what sportswriters do best, especially on Mondays.

But if there is something to take away from Sunday's Typhoon Mujigae-inspired stranding of Hong Kong's two top riders in Taiwan, let's not have it be, “Don't let Joao Moreira or Zac Purton leave the country for Group One races ever again”.

For a start, it's far too entertaining to imagine the arch-rivals stuck together in Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport for a day, and if we were going to overreact we would be calling for the false rail to be ripped up and perhaps even for Sha Tin straight races to be scrapped forevermore after another day of bias-riddled racing.

The only apparent difference with the new outside rail is that the racing is now three metres further away from where it used to happen.

Anyway, if you ask Purton, he and his Brazilian buddy should have been at Sha Tin if not for a ride so bad it had the Australian jockey booing from his business class seat and calling for an aviation-styled stewards' inquiry.

WATCH: Tornados in Guangdong caused by Typhoon Mujigae.

"The pilot tried to land three times but the wind was blowing the plane around and he aborted each landing," said a clearly disgusted Purton on Sunday. "I was a little surprised because I have definitely been on planes that landed in worse conditions than that.”

I mean, really, what a wuss. We can just imagine the thrill-seeking Purton, face pressed against the glass watching the attempted touchdowns, yelling out, “Have a go mate!” on the third time around – as if landing a 350,000kg-plus plane in a category three typhoon was the equivalent of parallel parking.

The absence of the big two on Sunday left a major hole in the Jockey Club's coffers. Start with HK$10 million-plus for the cancelled Jockey Challenge, then add who knows how much during the day.

Now the Jockey Club has announced a review into the situation – by which we hope they mean, “We are busy at a conference in Paris right now and we hope this all blows over before we come back.”

Which leaves us with what Purton and Moreira got up to while starring in the jockey version of the Tom Hanks film The Terminal – living in an airport, labelled one of the most boring in Asia by one of our correspondents, for nearly 10 hours after arriving at 6.30am after a nine-hour flight, not including the diversion following the aborted touchdown ordeal.

What we like to think happened: Purton – seizing an opportunity to get one over on his nemesis, and perhaps thinking of winning back his jockeys' championship – tries to somehow trick Moreira into staying in Taiwan. That, or booking him on the wrong flight to somewhere, anywhere, and hoping he likes it and stays there. 

What really happened: realising his first rides were canned and he didn't have to make weight for a now-cancelled ride, the famished Purton ate a hamburger. Then he enjoyed a massage from some blind masseuses for a few hours (which he thoroughly recommends if ever having the misfortune of being stuck at Taoyuan).

The more frugal Moreira fell asleep in one of those coin-operated massage chairs for a two or three hours, and may even be in the market for one after a reportedly transcendental experience a la Homer Simpson's Space Odyssey-inspired trip in the Spinemelter 2000.

Ironic really: while Moreira was putting a few measly coins into a massage chair and tripping out in Taiwan, the Jockey Club was haemorrhaging millions of dollars – all because some bloke wouldn't let one of the world's best jockeys land his plane.

I mean, these guys are good – either could be trusted to get it home on instinct alone, although Purton would be more likely to keep it straight.

There is a serious side to this though. As upset as the club, punters, trainers and owners might have been on Sunday, there were two people more frustrated than all of them put together: the two jockeys who live to ride and missed out on a day's competition.

And it's not only jockeys that benefit from getting to go overseas for Group Ones – the Jockey Club gets exposure for its product in foreign jurisdictions.

Now, HK$10 million worth per meeting? Maybe not, that's a lot of cold hard cash to pass back through the betting windows, but this was a pretty extraordinary set of circumstances.

WATCH: Zac Purton wins the Caulfield Cup on Admire Rakti last year.

Commingling, where foreign-based punters bet into the Jockey Club pools, has been way above expectations and contributes more than 2 per cent per meeting. Those are solid figures in these unpredictable economic days of doom and gloom.

New South Wales will form the final, and possibly biggest, piece of the commingling puzzle soon, and having the best Hong Kong-based riders make occasional appearances on marquee days is advertising money can't buy.

When Jockey Club executives "review the situation" they might also want to consider the future and how badly they want the world's best riders here.

The way things are, riders like Moreira and Purton, in their prime and in demand in Australia, get the best of both worlds – the highest per race prize money in the world, and the chance to cherry-pick big race rides at the rich carnivals in Australia.

Force their hands to stay at Sha Tin and maybe overseas offers start to look more a little more tempting – particularly for Moreira, whose Godolphin courtship continued, albeit without success, on Saturday.

Self-policing is still the best policy. For one, you can be sure both riders will be checking the long-range weather forecasts as much as form next time they are offered a big race ride in Australia.

And secondly, measuring up the winning chances might be more of a consideration after both returned winless – and went a combined zero for 11 – on Saturday.

Moreira, in particular, played second-fiddle all day to James McDonald, who had five victories, including a memorable battle between the pair in the Craven Plate.

Here's a suggestion for the club. Maybe just make a compromise: allow Purton a two-pound “burger allowance” a couple of times per season and buy Moreira a massage chair.

That should keep them happy – it's about all they took away from their miserable weekend.  

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