Plotting a precise pathway towards LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on 11 December with crack stayer Russian Emperor, Douglas Whyte holds modest expectations for Hong Kong\u2019s Champion Stayer in the G2 Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy Handicap (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (16 October).<\/p>\r\n
A dual Group 1 winner last season, regally-bred Russian Emperor will be partnered for the first time on Sunday by Lyle Hewitson following the five-year-old\u2019s regular rider Blake Shinn\u2019s decision to return to Australia.<\/p>\r\n
While Whyte has earmarked this weekend\u2019s HK$5 million feature as a stepping stone for Russian Emperor towards either the HK$34 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) or the HK$22 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) in December, the outing will be just as important for Hewitson to build race-day affinity with Russian Emperor.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cLyle has only had one sit on him in a trial, but Russian Emperor is an uncomplicated horse. He\u2019s just got to be ridden where he\u2019s comfortable. He\u2019s not out there to break any records, you have just got to give him his chance and allow him to hit the line and if he does that, he\u2019ll run a good race,\u201d Whyte said.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cIf Lyle can do that, he\u2019ll get a good feel of the horse and understand him and we\u2019ll be on track.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6393″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Hewitson, 24, has posted seven wins this campaign to sit third in the jockeys\u2019 championship behind Zac Purton (23) and Vincent Ho (10) and will jump from barrier eight in what shapes as an intriguing contest on Sunday, when California Spangle will attempt to enhance HK$30 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) claims under all-conquering Purton from gate 12.<\/p>\r\n
For Whyte, Russian Emperor\u2019s seasonal return is an important step towards the Group 1 international fray.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cRussian Emperor has summered very well, he\u2019s improved from last season. Obviously, my main goal is LONGINES International Raceday, so he\u2019ll be very competitive on Sunday, but he\u2019s not going to be 100 percent in this race,\u201d the South African said.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got 134 pounds, but whatever he does, he always improves from his first run to his second run and his third run is his best run \u2013 and that\u2019s the way I\u2019m heading. I couldn\u2019t be happier with him, health-wise and condition-wise.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
As to December and either the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup or the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, Whyte said: \u201cHe\u2019ll be entered for both and I\u2019ll leave my options open.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Russian Emperor finished sixth in last season\u2019s Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy behind Tony Millard-trained Panfield (127lb), who will begin this Sunday from gate 10 under Silvestre de Sousa.<\/p>\r\n
Along with California Spangle (133lb), championship-leading trainer Tony Cruz will be represented by Beauty Joy (129lb), who will jump from barrier 14 under Luke Currie.<\/p>\r\n
Sunday\u2019s (16 October) 10-race card at Sha Tin starts with the Class 4 Corum Excellent Handicap (1200m) at 1pm.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6391″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Plotting a precise pathway towards LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on 11 December with crack stayer Russian Emperor, Douglas Whyte holds modest expectations for Hong Kong\u2019s Champion Stayer in the G2 Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy Handicap (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (16 October). A dual Group 1 winner last… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":6392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6389"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6389"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6402,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6389\/revisions\/6402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/gentlemens-bow-tie-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}