A 14th championship might look a bridge too far for jockey Douglas Whyte, even as he closes in on second-placed Joao Moreira, but another winning treble at Sha Tin yesterday sees him finishing the season with a real flourish.

If Whyte was in front in the title race and another jockey in his current position - he is 18 behind Zac Purton with 16 meetings to go - it is unlikely the Durban Demon would be calling it all over, but the champion rider wasn't bursting with optimism at his chances of pulling back such a gap.

It looks too hard, but I couldn't be happier with how I'm finishing off the season
Douglas Whyte

"It looks too hard, but I couldn't be happier with how I'm finishing off the season," was his brief summary of the championship situation after wins on Fair Wind for Manfred Man Ka-leung, Master Kochanwong for David Hall and Full Talent for Richard Gibson took him to 72 for the term, just four behind second-placed Joao Moreira and just the same number off registering 1,600 career wins in Hong Kong.

"If you'd suggested a number like that when I first got a contract here, I'd have said you were crazy."

Not crazy at all is the idea that Full Talent is going somewhere worthwhile, after he won for the third time in four starts to round out a Richard Gibson treble and never looked like losing at his first attempt at 1,400m.

"The run last time indicated that he was kind enough to sit behind one. From the time he stepped away today, I was positive, Tarzan I Am crossed me and my bloke relaxed and breathed and he was very comfortable," Whyte said.

"Actually, I said to Richard I was pleased we didn't run him again at 1,200m, because with the wrong draw he'd have been beaten.

"Those last couple of races were stop-start, but the speed really suited today and he travelled well, picked up with purpose and, even though he was in front for a long way, he stayed on well to the line."

Master Kochanwong's win surprised no one, least of all Whyte and trainer David Hall, who had expected that breakthrough event might have happened earlier.

"You wouldn't think you could have a horse going as well as he has been and not won a race," Hall said.

"So I'm happy he's done it now. He has great gate speed and everyone knew the rail was gold, but I suspected that there would be a nuisance horse come and annoy him if we were one dimensional and insisted on leading. So when Ovett came and Douglas let him go, I wasn't too concerned. Master Kochanwong is a very professional horse, not just a leader or a dirt horse and there is some upside to him."

Whyte agreed and said he would be happy to ride the gelding on the turf at Sha Tin.

"I think if you put him in a 1,400m race here, that would really suit him," he said.

"His margin today was flattered by the rails bias, but he deserved the win and so did David, who has done a great job keeping him going as he isn't a horse that carries a lot of condition."

Meanwhile, three-year-old Fair Wind gives every indication there will be more to come with him, as Whyte said the youngster is even younger in the head.

"He's as immature as a two-year-old, a boy that hasn't grown up," he said.

"He's naughty, his mind's all over the place."

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