Three-timer Whyte on the crest of a wave
Champion jockey Douglas Whyte chopped further into Brett Prebble's championship lead yesterday with a treble, but any advantage he might have been ready to enjoy from his arch-rival's suspension in Sydney on Saturday was virtually cancelled out with a ban of his own.
Prebble's three-meeting suspension from the Golden Slipper looked a turning point in the championship until Whyte caught a HK$40,000 fine and two-day suspension after the Chairman's Trophy, but the penalty won't commence until after the Audemars Pigquet QE II Cup on April 25 and he will be setting himself to catch Prebble by then.
The Australian rider struck with a an only victory on Sabina, but Whyte's John Size-trained treble on Mandarin, Sapelli and Absolute Hedge has cut the margin back to four wins.
Mandarin, returning after a five-month break, was one of the more impressive wins of the afternoon in the second, and Whyte said the break had seen the three-year-old make big strides.
'In his first preparation he was just weak but he always gave the indication he was a really nice horse,' Whyte said. 'John put him away to let him mature and he's a different horse.'
Whyte sent the son of Testa Rossa to the front on the rail, then held that advantage when Hot Pepper came around looking for the lead.
'I've ridden Hot Pepper, I know the horse, and I didn't think it was the best idea to let him have the front and then be climbing all over his heels,' Whyte said.
'I crossed for free and the best thing was to hold the rail even if there was some pressure outside him. He's a nice horse.'
Sapelli strung together his third win on the trot since the move back to Sha Tin and even a moderate tempo wasn't about to stop him this time in the Lusitano Challenge Cup as the gelding took his first crack at 1,800m.
'Those two 1,400m wins have taught him to get behind, drop the bit and then chase,' Whyte said.
'Had today's race been 1,400m, he wouldn't have won. I was niggling at him down the back to hold his position and the only time he really started to travel was when he was coming at Lu Yue in the straight.
'Sapelli was doing plenty wrong before and we had blinkers and all sorts of gear on him at times but now he's a proper racehorse. He's no star but he is doing everything right.'
Sapelli's spell at Happy Valley was credited with bringing his manners on, and Whyte said Absolute Hedge's experiences there had him ready for the move to the bigger track for the first time, though it nearly all came undone before his neck-margin win.
'I said to John I thought Absolute Hedge was ready for Sha Tin now and it all turned out right but it nearly didn't - he got a bang from another horse at the start and it got him fired up,' Whyte said. 'It was 800m before I could get him to spit out the bit.'
