There was a time when gate one down the Sha Tin straight course was not a death sentence, but 13-time champion jockey Douglas Whyte could hardly conceal his disappointment when his mount Peniaphobia drew the inside yesterday for Sunday's HK$6.6 million Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup.
It is 15 years since Whyte's lone win in the Group One dash on Wong Tang-ping-trained Best Of The Best and that result shows how times have changed in straight racing, with the Durban Demon jumping from gate four in the capacity field and five of the six outside draws finishing in the last five placings. That just doesn't happen now.
"If I'd had the choice, I certainly wouldn't have picked gate one. It's a tricky one for sure, especially with Amber Sky, the speed in the race, drawn over the other side," said Whyte.
"Ideally, coming back from 1,200m, I'd have wanted to draw a gate where Peniaphobia could get a suck into the race behind the pace and find the line but, from gate one, cover does look an issue. You have to play the cards you're dealt, though, and fortunately it's only a small field, so I'll have to work it out when the gates open."
Whyte was first associated with Tony Cruz-trained Peniaphobia in Class Three, when the sprinter graduated from that grade with a win down the straight 1,000m last April, and the jockey has seen him progress to being runner-up in the Longines Hong Kong Sprint last month.
"He's improved a great deal since I won on him down the straight and, now that he's older, I think he appreciates the 1,200m around a bend, but he does still have a good record racing down the straight," said Whyte.
"Tony has him freshened up going into it and the horse is capable of adapting to the straight again. We just need some luck from that barrier."
The South African's record in the HK$10 million Stewards' Cup is more imposing, with wins on Armada (2007), Ambitious Dragon (2012) and Glorious Days (2013) from the past eight editions of the Group One mile.
But Whyte is as aware as anyone of the mountain to climb in 2015 if he is to add a fourth win, after his mount, Gold-Fun, led home the beaten Hong Kong Mile runners at a respectful distance behind world champion miler Able Friend.
"I'm happy with Gold-Fun. He trialled nicely, he has worked well and he's a horse whose training usually reflects how he will perform," Whyte said.
"He never runs a bad one and, if the others make mistakes, he's the type who picks up the pieces, but there isn't much we can do about Able Friend. There's no special plan to beat him.
"We've all seen horses have off days, but he would really need to have a bad one to have any chance of beating him."
