Last-ditch effort sees Prebble snatching the Jockey Challenge
Brett Prebble arrived in the final bounds of the last race at Happy Valley last night to snatch the Jockey Challenge with a gem of a ride aboard Walkonthewildside and keep trainer Paul O'Sullivan's season bubbling over.
Douglas Whyte's devastating run in the Challenge came to end, with punters who laid the odds on burning their fingers and Prebble just pipping Eric Saint-Martin in the final reckoning.
Paul O'Sullivan's last season was a dismal disappointment with just 27 wins after finishing second to Caspar Fownes in the previous season's championship, but the Kiwi is back in form this term, last night's double with Happee Gift (Jacky Tong Chi-kit) and Walkonthewildside elevating him to fifth in the title race.
While O'Sullivan acknowledged a brilliant ride on Walkonthewildside, with Prebble taking the rails route from last to first on the gelding, the win by Jacky Tong on Happee Gift was almost a sorry reminder of what promise the sprinter had shown early on.
'He'll never be the horse he might have been,' O'Sullivan said. 'He showed plenty of promise then got a virus which left him with a blood disorder. It took him a long time to get over the whole thing - I still don't think he's right - and it looks like it's going to be a factor that limits him in his career.'
Tong gave Happee Gift a perfect B track ride for the Valley, finding the shortest way home on the rails that was the path taken by most winners during the night's racing.
O'Sullivan shared training honours for the evening with Sean Woods, who landed a pair with Juggernaut (Eric Saint-Martin) and Adaikali (Eddie Lai-wing), who bounced back to winning to take the night's Happy Valley Trophy feature.