It was hardly a vintage day out for champion jockey Douglas Whyte yesterday but he managed to squeeze home long odds-on favourite Noble Crusader in the eighth to take him that little step closer to his century of wins.
John Moore-trained Noble Crusader firmed from $18 early to start at $14 for every $10 bet but barely justified the support as he crossed the finish line just a short head to the good of Green Treasure in the San Domenico Handicap over 1,200 metres.
The win took Whyte to 95 for the season and was the silver lining to a day when grey clouds were the norm after no excuse-defeats on two other odds-on chances.
'I really think this is a nice horse,' Whyte said after scraping in on Noble Crusader. 'He's just not there yet, mentally or physically. I was worried for a while coming to the home turn when I had to ride him along and make him do it, but then in the straight he applied himself well.
'Even though the second horse got close, I felt Noble Crusader was going to hold him. I really think he's a much better horse than that win suggests and he'll come back next season stronger and a bit more mature. Once that happens he'll even get a strong 1,400 metres.'
South African rider Anton Marcus has been one of the quiet achievers of the season this term, and he underlined his special skills by lining up Manfred Man Ka-leung-trained Energetic Prince and Alex Wong Siu-tan's Lucky Champion in successive races to bring his season tally to 50.
Both horses have proved difficult to get out of the gates and into their races, a factor which has weighed against more frequent success in both cases, but Marcus has proved their solution.
