Prebble's new partnerships 'going great'
Brett Prebble will go to his summer pasture as runner-up to Douglas Whyte for a third successive season, but a double for local handler Dennis Yip Chor-hong yesterday saw the Australian pause to momentarily ponder a possible future victory over dominating Durban Demon.
Prebble took the second race on heavily-backed debutant Spicy Fruity (HK$19.50), and later backed it up when New Zealand private purchase Plan Ex (HK$109) scored at the first time of asking for the same yard at Class Three level.
Yip, who will finish sixth on the trainers' premiership, has begun using Prebble with greater regularity this season and has harvested a good reward, with the pair having combined just 61 times for 12 wins, at a strike rate of just under 20 per cent.
'Dennis and I are building a good relationship, and it's working out very well,' Prebble said. 'With some of the locals, it's just a matter of taking the time to get their trust. David Hall has always been a great supporter and now I'm building a good relationship with Dennis as well.'
Prebble congratulated Whyte on a record eighth jockeys' title and knows from personal experience how hard it is to get past ever-consistent Whyte.
'If I'm ever going to be competitive with Douglas and win a championship, it's important to have a number of the top local trainers, who are training winners all the time, to support me,' Prebble said.
'It's been going great with Dennis this season, Manfred Man has been giving me plenty of rides and Francis Lui has been supporting me as well. I may still not be able to beat Douglas but you can live in hope.'
Plan Ex won the Golden Years Handicap over 1,400m for Class Three horses in the manner of a horse heading to better races. There's one proviso, according to Prebble - he might need softer ground to be fully effective.
'He's a very nice horse and he's let down really well today but that's the one query with him at the moment - weather or not he's as good on firmer tracks,' he said. 'In New Zealand, he raced four times and was on wet ground at every start, and today, even though the track has dried out a lot, the sting is still out of the ground.
'On that question, we'll just have to wait and see.'
On Spicy Fruity, and impressive winner at the expense of the Racing Club's Young Label, Prebble said the son of champion Australian sire Encosta de Lago has a lot of scope.
'Dennis hadn't really tuned him up for this, he was only about 70 per cent right, which is what I liked about it,' Prebble said. 'He's shown a nice turn of foot in the straight and I think next season he'll get a lot further - the way he feels, he might even make into a nice 2,000 metres horse.'
Prebble's double took him to 80 winners, needing just one more at Happy Valley tomorrow night to equal his best last season tally.
