Soumillon holds the aces in Jockey Challenge
Belgian riding ace Christophe Soumillon returns to action at Sha Tin today after a flying visit to the Dubai carnival and can pick up from where he left off by staving off champion Douglas Whyte to land the second Jockey Challenge.
Soumillon is an outstanding rider, one of the best in the world and last year had an association with a filly that will go down in history as one of the all-time greats - unbeaten Zarkava.
It's cattle of a more humble quality quotient that he'll be throwing his leg over today, although his previous association with Jackpot Delight could provide a highlight in the day's feature race (race eight).
Soumillon looks to have four strong winning chances - Accelerator (race two), King Of Scots (race three), My Way (race six) and Dream Team (race 10). Add to that support case that includes likely placegetters in Bear Macho (race four), Jackpot Delight and Lambro (race 11) and you can understand why he will be hard to beat.
Whyte has won the last two Challenges, at Sha Tin and Happy Valley, and denying him is a very poor percentage play because the guy is a champion, and an ultra-consistent one at that. But on this day, Soumillon looks to hold the aces.
