Champion jockey Douglas Whyte may be getting more competition for attention since the arrival of Christophe Soumillon mid-term but it isn't stopping the Durban Demon from carving an irresistible path towards another century season.
With little more than half the season completed, Whyte finished yesterday's card already on 60 victories after Lucky Fruit (race one), Right Fraar (race four) and Luminous (race six) all made unspectacular but important visits to the winner's stall.
Two of those were in tandem with John Size - Right Fraar and Luminous - while Manfred Man Ka-leung provided the mount on Planet Ruler's brother, Lucky Fruit.
He took tremendous formlines into his race after seconds to Armada and Dream Horse in his first two runs but he was unimpressive in scraping home at 1,000 metres yesterday by only a neck over the first starter, Smart Fellow.
'I think he's a horse who lacks confidence in himself at this stage, so I'm hoping that the win will do him a lot of good,' said Whyte.
'You know, in trackwork Lucky Fruit can run you 400 metres in 20 seconds flat - so he has the ability - but in a race he hasn't been finding a thing off the bit. Today I could have led Golden Farm easily, that's how much natural speed he has, but I was pleased that today he did find a length when I asked him - which was just as well as he only won by a neck.
'But it showed he is learning so I'm hoping that with more experience he'll bring that galloping ability he shows on the track to his races.'
