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.