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Delpech closes in on his personal goal

Murray Bell

Another winning double at Sha Tin yesterday saw South African jockey Anthony Delpech bearing down on his personal goal for the term, 50 winners, to complete what is already a season of dreams.

After wins on Wadadelight ($39) for Gary Ng Ting-keung and Solar Power ($41.50) for Ricky Yiu Poon-fie, Delpech moved to 46 wins and equal fourth (with Olivier Doleuze) on the jockeys' leaderboard.

'Fifty has been my goal, so I have nine more meetings to ride four more winners,' Delpech said. 'It's been a wonderful season and I really couldn't be happier. I've had a lot of support from some very good trainers and, to cap it off, Vengeance Of Rain has come along.'

Delpech will maintain his association with the two-time Group One winner when he races in the Group One Champions & Chater Cup over 2,400 metres next Sunday.

While yesterday's brace of winners were horses of entirely different types, Delpech reviewed both wins positively.

It was his second victory on Solar Power, who is now two from two since Yiu fitted blinkers to his racing gear.

'I like him, he's a lovely little horse who should be even better next season,' Delpech said. 'He does work himself up in the parade ring before his races, which is something he's going to have to overcome. He does need to settle a bit better, but he's got a lovely turn of foot. He's going the right way.'

The temperament aspect to Solar Power is interesting because he's by Woodman stallion Bahhare, a New Zealand-based sire who is best known locally for quality stayer Best Gift, who has also been a problem child for trainer John Moore.

Earlier, Delpech gave an 11-out-of-10 riding exhibition to land the Class Four over 2,000 metres on the all-weather track on reformed rogue Wadadelight, whose barrier antics were formerly so bad that stewards gave serious consideration to banning the gelding.

'I don't know what Gary Ng has done with the horse to change his attitude,' Delpech said. 'He was so bad before and just didn't want to be here at all. But he wants to be a racehorse now.

'He'd been in good form in his work in the mornings. I said to Gary, I was confident he could win again today despite the rise in weight. And after the way he's won this race, I feel he could go out and win again next time.

'He'll go up to Class Three after that but the way he's going, with a light weight, he should certainly be up to it.'

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