Trainer Alex Wong Yu-on had the best form guide of all to make him confident about the chances of highly-promising sprinter Green Diamond as he made it two from two at Sha Tin last night. 'He works with Tenacity on the track and he works very well with him,' Wong said after the brilliant four-year-old made a nice meal of a smart Class Three field in the night's highlight, the Yan Oi Tong Cup over 1,200 metres. 'Of course, this horse has only had two starts so he is inexperienced and at this stage he is a class behind Tenacity. But with more racing, he will catch up. He is a very nice horse.' The Wong-trained Tenacity has emerged as one of the most exciting young sprinters in Hong Kong in the last few months, including an excellent fourth to Firebolt in last Sunday's Group One Centenary Sprint Cup. That Green Diamond works well alongside him was a fine guide to the gelding's chances last night, although he met a field of real depth. The second leg of a double for champion jockey Douglas Whyte, Green Diamond travelled easily on the speed set by first-time starter Kimberley Mines to the home turn and Whyte appeared to move up very easily indeed by the 300 metres before having a fightback on his hands. 'I had plenty there but that Kimberley Mines is a very tough competitor, when I asked my horse to go, Kimberley Mines didn't give up at all,' Whyte said. 'In the end, class told and he drew away like a nice horse. It's nice to ride one like that. Green Diamond could be a very good sprinter.' And like many others at Sha Tin, Whyte recalled that Kimberley Mines had been scratched at the gates as favourite for what was to be his first run on February 24 in a much easier race. 'Gee, the way he went tonight, I think he would have won that day nice and easily,' Whyte said. Whyte had earlier won on Elite Win for Gary Ng Ting-keung as part of the trainer's early dominance on the card but his night was soured after stewards found him guilty of careless riding soon after the start of the sixth race on eventual runner-up, Black Carbine. Whyte was handed a four-day ban starting after Sunday's Sha Tin night meeting and that suspension may be crucial to his hopes of retaining his jockeys' championship. Shane Dye is closing in rapidly on Whyte (49 wins) and Felix Coetzee (43), and certainly lost no ground with a winning double himself last night. Dye scored on first reserve runner Desert Storm for Geoff Lane in race six then buttered up with the John Size-trained Lucky Combination in the last. 'I'm a chance in the championship because I'll just keep on wearing away and John Size and David Hayes are my main supporters and they both should finish the season off well,' Dye said. He goes to Sydney to ride at Golden Slipper meeting on Saturday, but will be back in Hong Kong at 6.30am on Sunday in plenty of time to take his place at Sha Tin. Lucky Combination made it three victories from seven starts in the last event, switching back from 1,800 metres and appreciating a light weight and a solid tempo to score but Size fears the gelding's smallish stature may come against him when he starts to carry more weight in races. 'He is going through the bottom of the classes and carrying light handicaps, and that suits him,' he said. 'Whether he still has that ability to sprint once he gets up to bigger weights, we have to see.' The three-year-old still has improvement to make in his pre-race temperament, too. 'He gets quite hot in the parade before he races but it doesn't seem to affect his performance,' Size said. Dye's earlier winner for Lane surprised most, with the Volksraad gelding Desert Strike going out at around 88-1 but Lane said he didn't believe it to be a shock win. 'His first couple of runs were good, but then he did put in a run that had us scratching our heads, so I suppose that's why he was such long odds,' he said. 'When he was last at the races, he had that misfortune at the start when Michael Kinane rode him. Michael told us another runner rattled the gates and this fellow just became upset by it and got down in the stalls, so he had to be scratched. 'He is just a baby yet but has always shown some ability and we were lucky tonight that Shane didn't have a ride in the race. He has ridden him most of the time and knows him well.' The win was a first for owners Mr and Mrs Brian Caird, who have raced a horse previously with Lane but were unable to find the winner's stall with him.
