Whyte earns second Jockeys' Championship

Douglas Whyte, Hong Kong's undisputed champion jockey for the last seven

seasons, won his second Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Jockeys'

Championship in the 10th renewal of the big event at Happy Valley on Wednesday.

Whyte, who started the evening two wins short of equaling the record for the

most winners in Hong Kong, got off to a tremendous start by steering the

appropriately named Champion Lad (Langfuhr) to a clear-cut victory in the

opening event of the Championship for John Moore. He then landed his double with

a masterly ride to storm home on Man in the Mirror (Nkomo) for John Size in the

America H., which took his total score in Hong Kong to 946, equaling Tony Cruz's

record.

"It is a great honor to represent Hong Kong and you have to be sharper than

ever when competing against these jockeys," an ecstatic Whyte said. "I've won

this Championship before, but it's been a while and what a day to draw level with

Tony Cruz. I hope I'm not putting the mockers on it but the chance I can go

ahead on Sunday, with everybody there, will be absolutely amazing.

"There was no better way to level it than winning on one of John's (Size)

horses, who has been such a supporter and friend."

Earlier in the second leg of the International Jockeys' Championship, Whyte

took third-place on the Sean Woods-trained Vintage Gold (Ashkalani), won by

three-time French champion Christophe Soumillon on Super Surprise (Fusaichi

Pegasus). Canadian Emma-Jane Wilson, the emerging star, held on to take

second-place on Vincere (Al Akbar).

"The whole night was amazing and I was flattered to be here," said Wilson,

who finished sixth in the standings. "That was excellent, an absolutely

wonderful night and I think the experience will do me a lot of good."

Whyte managed to grab fifth-place on Fujian Prince (Desert King) in the last

leg to bring his to tally to 18 points, three more than Soumillon with 15 points

and four more than Damian Oliver with 14. Oliver recovered from a nasty looking

fall on Classa Win (Trempolino) in the first leg to take the third leg on Dr

Possi (Flying Spur).

"I am really happy with that," Soumillon said. "It's a great experience to

compete against some of the best jockeys in the world. I thought I had a strong

chance in the first race, but you need a horse with a small action to go around

this tight track. I have won this competition and it's been great to compete

again."

The evening was capped with betting turnover up to HK$753.9 million, and the

crowd was up from 20,134 last year to 20,579.