Whyte wins Hong Kong Derby

Fay Fay and Whyte give Size a first HKG1 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby

 

Fay Fay gave trainer John Size a long-awaited first victory in a thrilling renewal of the HKG1 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby this afternoon, thanks in no small measure to an ice-cool ride from perennial Champion Jockey Douglas Whyte.

 

The Falkirk gelding prevailed in a battling drive to the wire by a neck from the persistent John Moore-trained Same World, with the fast-finishing HKG1 Mercedes-Benz HK Classic Mile victor Sweet Orange a diminishing head away in third for trainer David Ferraris. Moore’s HKG1 Mercedes-Benz HK Classic Cup winner Zaidan took fourth as Fay Fay stopped the clock at 2m 04.41s.

 

Whyte exhibited precisely why he is a Hong Kong riding legend with an intelligent example of jockeyship in the 2000m showpiece. Drawn widest of the 14 runners, the South African allowed his mount to roll forward three deep into the first turn before slotting in to sit handily within striking distance of the slow fractions set by the front-running Bullish Champion.

 

“Your options are limited when you’ve got Gate 14, it wasn’t our initial option to go that close forward but we were going to be positive on him,” revealed Whyte. “But when they slackened up on the stable bend I let him roll forward under his own steam and within a matter of 100m I had the race in control. He was just lobbing along beautifully so from that point of view I’ve got to say that Gate 14 was a blessing in disguise.

 

“Same World levelled up with me in the final 100m but this horse knows how to fight and he knows how to lay it down when the pressure’s put on him,” continued Whyte.

 

And the Size stable star, a close runner-up in the Classic Mile before running a below-par fourth in the Classic Cup, proved his resilience in the final stages as he saw off all-comers to give Whyte his second victory in the race following on from Super Satin in 2010.

 

“I was positive on him at the 600m and that was the key between winning and losing today because Same World had to make up the ground on me,” added Whyte.

 

Size has enjoyed numerous big-race victories since relocating to Hong Kong in 2001 and has six Champion Trainer titles under his belt, but was clearly elated at having landed a first triumph in the Blue Riband event.

 

“It’s always nice to win a big race and in Hong Kong the big race to win is the Derby,” said the Australian. “Fay Fay won a race very early as a two-year-old, which is probably a bit unusual for a Derby winner. Through injury he had more than 12 months off the track through his three-year-old year but that has probably stood him in good stead as I’ve been able to step him up at his leisure and he made steady progress to the point that he got into the Group 1 races.

 

“We’ll see how the horse is. (The Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup) is a pretty good idea but the horse might not agree with that. It depends on what sort of condition he’s in and how he takes this race.”

 

The owner’s sister, Nancy, has been involved with Fay Fay from an early stage, having purchased the gelding as a yearling.

 

“I bought him very cheaply in New Zealand and he has done so much for us,” she said. “I’m very proud of the horse. I hoped he would go on to do great things but the Derby is the Derby and you can never expect a horse is going to be a Derby winner, so to win it is something special.” 

 

In the preceding race, Thumbs Up benefited from a drop in grade to take the 1800m HKG3 Premier Plate (Handicap) in fine style under Brett Prebble.

 

The seven-year-old shrugged off the dual burden of top-weight and the wide 12 gate to unleash a storming stretch run that nailed victory by a length and a half from King Of Scots.

 

“He’s a class horse and he deserved that win,” said trainer Caspar Fownes. “He’s had his fair share of problems but he bounced back nice and strong today under handicap conditions carrying a lot of weight. He’s a proven Group One horse and we’ll have a bit of fun with him through to the end of the season.”

 

Almost 53,000 witnessed the thrilling Derby action on-course in Hong Kong, with the day producing turnover of HK$1,204 million.    

It was a super race I must say ... luckily I just caught it on TV, nearly missed it. As it was I missed out on hearing the TT presenter's listing of the scratchings, equipment changes, etc. Tsk.

Mind you I feel for Sweet Orange/Ferraris/Mawing, who were catching up rapidly. It was a blessing in disguise for Fay Fay that the second horse challenged him in the last furlong and stimulated him to run to his maximum otherwise Marwing would have caught him just before the line. I suspect Marwing was reckoning on sweeping past him in the last 50 m, and it would have worked otherwise ...

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