Dennis Yip Chor-hong and champion jockey Douglas Whyte had a reunion of sorts at Sha Tin yesterday and celebrated it in the best possible way, with a win by $28 favourite Time Supreme in the fifth event. Yip and Whyte were a hot combination with an amazing success rate last season, but their chances to work together disappeared six months ago when the trainer decided to retain Frenchman Eric Saint-Martin as his stable jockey. Just last week, the Jockey Club was advised of the termination of that arrangement by mutual consent and although Saint-Martin is still in town, Yip looked to old friends for his change of luck yesterday. Time Supreme had shown promise in three starts for Caspar Fownes when owner Ng Muk-ming surprised the leading sophomore trainer with a sudden change of stable, and yesterday was only the three-year-old's second start for the Yip yard. 'I talked to the owner and said the horse is just a baby and quite weak,' Yip explained. 'He'd had only one run for me but I wanted to give him a break and the owner agreed. 'Since he came back after his three months off, this horse has learned more about racing and today, he showed the benefit of that lay-off.' Whyte was impressed with the way Time Supreme quickened up and shot past his rivals at the 200 metres, but pointed out the gelding did have some idiosyncrasies. 'The horse was different today,' Whyte explained. 'I've had the feeling he's a bit shy inside horses so I always wanted to be three deep on the outside of them today. 'When he gets tight [between horses], his head comes up and it's like he's looking for an excuse. But on the outside of horses today, he was much better. I think he's got a little bit of potential and will get better with racing. We'll probably see the best of him when he gets up to 2,000 metres.' Yip completed a double when San Lorenzo ($72.50) won the final event under Robbie Fradd. 'Dennis took the blinkers off him today and the race worked out perfectly for us,' Fradd said. 'He enjoyed the strong speed up front, settled nicely and went to the line very nicely indeed.'
