'Someone's going for some important number and suddenly it seems to get tougher. But it was worth waiting for' Just when it looked like being the night of the kids, champion jockey Douglas Whyte turned Happy Valley back into the domain of the Demon and landed a personal landmark and the South China Morning Post Cup. Whyte arrived in the last two races to bring his Hong Kong tally of wins to 800, leaving him a good season and a half short of Tony Cruz's all-time record of 946 victories. 'It's great to have got there but it took a while,' the Durban Demon laughed after Cape Prince and Bulldozer took him to a new milestone. 'You know it's the same in any sport, isn't it? 'Someone's going for some important number and suddenly it seems to get tougher. A batsman going for his century at cricket or someone chasing a record and it's like an unwritten rule you can't get there easily. I don't think I've gone without a win for three meetings in a row all season, but with two races to go tonight and stuck on 798, that's how it was looking. But it was worth waiting for.' It all came right for the five-times Hong Kong champion jockey as Whyte combined with a man who is threatening to take his fourth trainer's title, John Size, to land the night's feature event, the South China Morning Post Cup. 'Cape Prince is probably one of my favourite horses this season,' said Whyte. 'He's come such a long way from when I rode him his first start in a sprint here at the Valley. He was all legs then but he's just become so professional now. Today he had the first go at his opposition and they were always going to struggle to run him down. 'Even with 133 pounds, and not such a big horse, he's so competitive. He goes up a grade now but I reckon he'll think he's gone without the jockey when he steps out in Class Two next time with 118 pounds.' Size also displayed a horseman's admiration for the brave son of Cape Cross, who is putting together a record so typical of the Size stable with three wins and three other minor prize-money cheques from eight starts. 'He's honest, very consistent and it isn't easy to win with 133 pounds,' Size said. 'He's got a great character and gives himself a lot of help in his races by putting himself up there and he really knows how to race. He doesn't get bothered when other horses get up next to him or around him and when he gets any advantage in running, as he did tonight, he can turn it into a win. 'I think he's done a great job for his first preparation here and he looks like he should acquit himself well in Class Two.' Whyte sealed his 800th win with Bulldozer for Dennis Yip Chor-hong in the last event, another horse which has progressed in leaps and bounds. 'When I galloped him on the riverside the other day, he just fell asleep under me until I asked him to go and it was exactly what was needed,' Whyte said. 'Now that he's up in grade, Bulldozer needs to relax and from a wide gate tonight it was absolutely vital. Dennis has been a great supporter so it was a thrill to get the 800 on one of his.' Whyte's late flourish put an end to the dominance of 10-pound claimers earlier in the night, with Marco Chui Kwan-lai and Terry Wong Chi-wai each landing doubles. For Chui, it was especially gratifying to finally land a winner on Champ De Union for his trainer, David Ferraris, after his other wins had come on outside mounts from Tony Cruz. 'When I began to ride at Happy Valley, I wasn't doing so well, but Mr Cruz suggested I use a wooden horse to train to improve my balance and it is much better now,' Chui said. Chui also won his second race in a week on Speeding Molly for Tony Millard, while Wong brought home Napa and Nilometer after copybook displays up on the pace.
