Punters who have been burnt taking short odds on Douglas Whyte in the Jockey Challenge have been given no respite by the Jockey Club oddsmakers and the enigmatic Frenchman Eric Saint-Martin looks better value today.
Whyte has been at prohibitive odds each meeting and his followers have yet to collect, and the price setters were asking them to come in again at odds of 1.7 when the market was posted last night.
But while the Durban Demon and his mounts certainly have the quality to justify the quote, Saint-Martin is riding as well as anyone in town.
Saint-Martin doesn't have an outright favourite, but will be anticipating a sharp form turnaround in the third from Triumphant Diamond, who failed to handle Happy Valley first-up, to challenge Whyte's dominant favourite Jamesina.
The French rider's remaining mounts all have prospects of at least minor points and consistency will take him a long way after being offered up at odds of 13.0 last night.
The natives were getting restless around the parade yard before the day's end on Sunday, giving Whyte something to go on with as he prepared to go out on his final couple of mounts.