After his brilliant ride to win aboard Moneymaker on Happy Thursday, someone remarked, “Now THAT was the old Douglas Whyte” to which we countered with, “No, that’s Douglas Whyte bringing Sexy Back”.
From barrier 12, the Champion jockey had his horse- the topweight- on the rails and gave it one of the best rides seen in a very long time- a rail-hugging ride on that tight Happy Valley track that has become his hallmark and trademark.
It was a ride every bit as good as what he gave Akeed Mofeed to take out the International Cup which some very astute racing men who have studied the head-on patrol film of that race have hailed as perfection and which they feel should be mandatory viewing for every apprentice jockey.
Today at Shatin and the last meeting of 2013, Whyte retains the ride on the John Size-trained Luger despite the end of this ultra-successful partnership, which has happened for a number of reasons, and something sad to see.
But, perhaps it was the right time for trainer and jockey to focus on new career paths though detractors of Size who knew the trainer in Sydney, shake their heads and say how they’re not surprised and that “a Shane Dye” happened- a reference to the long-time Size-Dye partnership which ended just as abruptly.
Hey, to us, it’s nothing personal, it’s just business and two professionals looking out for number one plus looking at new and different career priorities.
With three races on the tricky all-weather track and without the presence of the suspended Joao Moreira, Gerard Mosse and Olivier Doleuze, the jockeys to follow appear to be Tye Angland, Whyte, and Karis Teetan, below, who starts his suspension after the January 1 meeting.
One can only guess that ol’ Teets has deferred his suspension as he has some winning rides at this and the next meeting with, today, Magic Kingdom, Ready To Celebrate, Dehere’s The Love and Sichuan Exec looking his best chances on paper.
It doesn’t look to be an overly difficult card though how many times have we said that only to have horses make mugs of us all and many ending up with egg on their faces?
R1 WINSOME
Chris So would know all about Winsome from his days as Assistant Trainer to Caspar Fownes, and though a pretty weak horse plus more of a Happy Valley horse, its last run to come second was pretty good.
Other chances in a ho-hum race are PJ Hall and Flying Supreme.
R2 SOLAR SPIRIT
The way this won for the same jockey over the same course and distance and again drawn to give it the shortest way home, Solar Spirit, despite a ten pound increase in the weights, looks like making an encore appearance.
The ones that might give it most to do is the Tony Cruz-Matthew Chadwick combination of Real Fit plus first starters World City and Hit The Bid.
R3 MEDIC KINGDOM
One of Karis Teetan’s better chances to ride a winner before he starts his suspension and one of the very few horses with a winning chance in this race.
Others worth having a look at are Lucky Bonus while the booking of Zac Purton for Peri Peri Safron will definitely suit the galloper which, however, seems to race every meeting and is getting as stale and tired as having the girlfriend feed you a plate of peri peri every weekend.
R4 LUGER
Though drawn barrier 10 over the 1400m Griffin Trophy and Domineer the main danger, one hopes the Whyte-Size combination salutes for old times sake with Luger.
If not, what’s the bet there will be a new jockey on it at its next start as there is a long queue waiting in the wings to jump aboard?
R5 ALL MY KINGDOMS
The first leg of the Triple Trio and a nightmare race made even tougher by it being run on the all-weather track and with some very average gallopers going around.
All My Kingdom has gone well for Derek Leung, below, before- though on the turf- and came a respectable fourth to Spicy Siam over 1800m on this surface at its last start when ridden by Alex Lai.
It really was a toss-up as to what to put up on top as others worth serious consideration are Gold Tartini- unlucky at its last start when well backed- Prince Of Sunshine, Suisse D’Or and Fiery Patrol.
R6 PEARL WIN/YO-YO DA/GORGEOUS DEBUT/ROYALE ELEGANCE
The first leg of the Six Up and, possibly, the four one needs to put in for this race and keep hopes to be Staying Alive, Staying Alive, hah hah hah hah hah Staying Alive.
R7 PERFECT JOY
This should win for Angland. If The Zac Attack has a ride in this race bung it in as Purton-Angland quinellas have an incredibly high strike rate. And if Neil Callan is on an outsider at Captain America odds, add it to your tierce bets.
R8 SMART FORWARD
A first-starter for John Moore and with Dougie Whyte jumping on board, it really must be followed- even if it does nothing today- in a very tough race.
Others I’ll be putting in to my Six Up are Sky Far and Master Sommelier.
R9 TURIN PEARL/DEHERE’S THE LOVE
Anything can win this, but I’ll stick with these two.
R10 DINING WORLD
The old firm of Brett Prebble and Caspar Fownes combine with this one and it MUST go close.
Crikey, Benno Yung now sends Banksters Bonus over 1400m and with another new jockey- Keith Yeung- trying to get the best outta this galloper that has continued to disappoint after its first win this season when ridden by Weichong McMarwing and looking for all the world like a stayer.
But Benno knows best- and if it plods along and puts in another shocker, well, the banker becomes a wanker.
R11 VICTORY HEART
Possibly the best ride of the day for the husband of Nicole Purton and which should go very close to winning.
Dangers might be Helene Fun Star, Chok Chok- no relation to Chop Chop- Principal and Holmes Legend, the first ride given to Douglas Whyte by rookie trainer Chris Ho. I’ll be boxing all five in a quinella.
BEST BET R7 PERFECT JOY (4) NEXT BEST R10 DINING WORLD LONGSHOT R5 ALL MY KINGDOMS (12)
SIX UP
R6- 1-4-6-10 R7- 4 R8- 4-7-8-11 R9- 6-11 R10- 6 R11- 6-8-10
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TODAY’S SELECTIONS FOR SHA TIN (FROM THE THIRD DIVIDEND)
SHA TIN (HKG) Sun, 29/12/13 Day Races @HKJC_Racing Turf (“B+2” Course) / AWT Weather: Fine and very dry. It will be cold in the morning and at night. The maximum temperature will be around 15 degrees during the day. Moderate north to northeasterly winds, fresh at times at first. Source: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm
Race 1: WONG SHEK CL5 HCP 1 – Flying Supreme (7) 2 – Winsome (4) 3 – Just Mistere (1) 4 – Cosmo One (10)
Race 2: LUK WU CL4 HCP 1 – Solar Spirit (8) 2 – World City (11) 3 – Real Fit (6) 4 – Trillion Treasure (1)
Race 3: SAI WAN SHAN CL4 HCP 1 – Medic Kingdom (13) 2 – Lucky Bonus (4) 3 – Peri Peri Saffron (3) 4 – Hurry Hurry Up (10)
Race 4: THE GRIFFIN TROPHY 1 – Luger (2) 2 – Domineer (3) 3 – Why Why (4) 4 – Art Of Success (1)
Race 5: YIM TIN TSAI CL5 HCP 1 – All My Kingdoms (12) 2 – Suisse D’Or (2) 3 – Fiery Patrol (7) 4 – Gold Tartini (10)
Race 6: PAK TAM AU CL4 HCP 1 – Royal Elegance (6) 2 – Yo-Yo Da (4) 3 – Gorgeous Debut (1) 4 – Bernard’s Choice (14)
Race 7: TSAM CHUK WAN CL4 HCP 1 – Perfect Joy (4) 2 – Better Announce (1) 3 – Oyster (10) 4 – East Ahead (12)
Race 8 (Q1): HO CHUNG CL3 HCP 1 – Master Sommelier (7) 2 – Pretty One (4) 3 – Affluence Of Rain (3) 4 – Smart Forward (8)
Race 9 (Q2): KAU SAI CHAU CL3 HCP 1 – Dehere’s The Love (11) 2 – Turin Pearl (6) 3 – Danewin Tiger (7) 4 – Forza (9)
Race 10 (Q3): CHEK KENG CL2 HCP 1 – Dining World (6) 2 – Ho In One (11) 3 – Secret Sham (1) 4 – Mirage (4)
Race 11 (Q4): LONG KE CL3 HCP 1 – Victory Heart (8) 2 – Principal (6) 3 – Mighty K (4) 4 – Helene Fun Star (7)
Best Bet Race 8: Master Sommelier (7)
Next Best Race 10: Dining World (6)
Value Bet Race 2: Solar Spirit (8)
Long Shot Race 6: Bernard’s Choice (14)
Quaddie ($100 gets you 39%) 3.4.7.8 6.7.9.11 1.4.6.11 4.6.7.8
Six Up 6 1-4-10 7 11 6-11 8
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SELECTIONS FROM THE BIG APPLE (@SW064351)
BEST BET Race 4, No. 3 Domineer Smart win when leading all the way at Happy Valley. Will roll forward and give plenty of cheek again.
SECOND BEST Race 11, No. 8 Victory Heart Caught wide and looked the winner before being claimed by Multivictory. Worth another chance.
LONGSHOT Race 10, No. 3 New Vision First-up effort was creditable. Improved showing wouldn’t surprise.
LAY Race 8, No. 7 Master Sommelier Maiden, yet continues to go up short odds. Happy to take him on.
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