Reigning champion Douglas Whyte gave himself at least a momentary bit of breathing room at the top of the ladder last night when he kicked home an early double at Sha Tin and at got himself in the good graces of trainer Lawrie Fownes.
'You wouldn't believe it, that is the first winner I've ridden for Lawrie in six years here,' Whyte said after short-priced Prodigy held off the dogged finish of Watch Me Win to take the second event.
Whyte went to 62 wins and stretched his lead in the jockeys' championship to five wins over suspended Shane Dye, after scoring with Shabu Shabu for Eddie Lo in the opener and then Fownes-trained Prodigy. The stayer has been racing most consistently of late on the dirt for Wendyll Woods, who missed the ride last night through suspension, and Whyte was legged aboard for just his fourth ride this season for the Fownes stable.
'I rode Bold Vision for Lawrie last start and he got left and then had a tough run,' Whyte said. 'I guess we haven't had much luck together when I have ridden for him, so I think I was on my last chance with this one. I didn't want to get beaten tonight. And there was a moment there when the last chance was looking like my very last, too.
'When Watch Me Win moved up, I had to go for the stick and pull out everything he had to get him home. Prodigy has been a very genuine horse and he deserved to win one but it was touch and go.' Prodigy eventually scrambled home by a head for his first win on the all-weather track and his first in just over two years.
Whyte reached the 400-win mark in Hong Kong racing when Shabu Shabu won the opening race for the griffin horses, making up for his near miss last start behind Floral Dynamite.
