Douglas Whyte’s Easy Go Easy Win does not win out of turn but he is sure to get his chance on Wednesday when he returns to where he is most comfortable.
The five-year-old has never been beaten in Class Three company in Hong Kong and he returns to that grade in the Sportsmanship Handicap (1,600m), where he will look to replicate his wire-to-wire victory in December.
Arriving in Hong Kong as a three-year-old, Easy Go Easy Win won on debut in Class Three off a rating of 72 in an impressive manner but was unable to fire a shot up in class in his next 20 starts.
Included in those 20 starts were 13th- and 12th-placed performances in the Classic Mile and Classic Cup.
Transferred from John Moore’s yard to Whyte at the beginning of the season, Easy Go Easy Win would go just five starts before winning for his new trainer when he caused an upset at $34.
To add to Easy Go Easy Win’s class drop on Wednesday, he also gets the services on 10-pound claiming apprentice Jerry Chau Chun-lok, meaning he will carry just 123 pounds.
Whyte and Chau have combined 24 times so far for two of the young apprentice’s five wins and six of his eight rides on Wednesday will be for the 13-time champion jockey turned trainer.
Wednesday’s Establishment Day public holiday provides a rare opportunity for a midweek meeting at Sha Tin during the day time and gives Chau an extra chance to hone his skills, with the 20-year-old currently not licensed to ride at Happy Valley until the last meeting of the season.
Whyte has enjoyed a terrific debut season as a trainer with the 48-year-old set to sail past 40 winners for the term, putting him among the likes of John Size, Danny Shum Chap-shing and Caspar Fownes.
Easy Go Easy Win will race against well-performed types Cheerful Leader, Delightful Laos, Everyone’s Joy and Ever Laugh.
Cheerful Leader can lay claim to being one of Hong Kong’s most consistent gallopers having only missed the placings twice in his 10-start career.
The Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained galloper has impressed in his first season but has not been missed by punters, having been sent out at odds no worse than $5.10 in his last seven starts.
Should Cheerful Leader be able to win again, it could be crucial for Yiu who is clinging onto the lead in the trainers’ championship by just one victory with five meetings left.
Another of Whyte’s chances is impressive three-year-old Storm Warnings, who will return to the races after dashing home for fifth on debut earlier this month.
Formerly named Barcali when trained by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young in Australia, Storm Warnings is one of an emerging batch for Whyte heading into next season.