Douglas Whyte will become an even more important part of Hong Kong racing history this afternoon when he accepts his seventh title as champion jockey, but must then reset his new-season goals for a trek into uncharted territory.
Although he's the first jockey in the history of professional racing to win seven straight championships, two great riders before him have also landed seven titles - Gary Moore and Whyte's South African compatriot Basil Marcus - while Tony Cruz won six premierships but holds the record for most Hong Kong wins, 946.
'Fortunately, I still have a bit of energy left in me and I hope I can come back next season to try for one more,' Whyte said with characteristic modesty yesterday.
If he achieves that, passing Cruz's all-time tally will happen automatically, because Whyte's tally this morning is 911, a number which sounds anything but lucky and one he'll undoubtedly want to leave behind as quickly as his Sha Tin mounts this afternoon will allow.
The one thing that was obvious to anyone watching his jockeys' premiership battle with Brett Prebble over the past two months was Whyte's hunger for it.
Prebble, two-time Melbourne champion and season record-holder in that city, desperately wanted to knock Whyte off his mantle. But even he marvelled at just how much Whyte wanted to stay there.
'This title means a lot to me, firstly to be now bracketed with great jockeys like Gary Moore and Basil Marcus, but this year's title, it's just nice to have achieved it in these circumstances,' Whyte said.