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Beadman in line to spoil Whyte's Challenge party

Murray Bell

Douglas Whyte may have enjoyed an uncomplicated picnic at Sha Tin last weekend with three of his major rivals - Brett Prebble, Darren Beadman and Olivier Doleuze - missing from proceedings, but the competition returns to near normality today.

Prebble is back from Singapore, where he rode two Group One placings at Kranji, and Beadman returns from the suspension he sustained from his aggressive ride on Viva Pataca in the early stages of the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup on April 27. And of the pair, it could be Beadman who offers the best value if Whyte's current run of dominance in the Jockey Challenge is to be overturned.

Beadman could easily post two early winners for outside stables - Magic Temple for Sean Woods in race two, and Animation for Danny Shum Chap-shing in race three. And that's before we consider the big entry from his retaining stable, John Moore, in races four to 11.

If Beadman can land those two early winners, he'll be an odds-on chance to land at least one more with Viva Pataca in the day's feature event, and then there are seven other hopes for the Moore stable to consider. He is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle standing between Whyte and a fourth victory in the new and popular bet type.

On last night's 6pm call, Whyte held his usual place at the top of Jockey Challenge betting at even money (HK$2), ahead of Prebble (HK$3.80) and Beadman third pick at HK$5, with the fixed-odds market offering 10-1 bar the three stars.

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