Douglas Whyte secures first Group One

Already the most decorated jockey in the history of Hong Kong racing, Douglas Whyte can add Group One-winning trainer to his resume after Stronger’s surprise victory in the Centenary Sprint Cup.

The South African, who is into his third season as a handler after swapping his stirrups for a stopwatch in 2019, enjoyed the biggest moment of his new career at Sha Tin on Sunday when his honest speedster fought off a late challenge from Sky Field in the HK$12 million feature.

Whyte won 23 Hong Kong majors as a jockey – including this race twice (Best Of The Best in 2000 and Peniaphobia in 2015) – and now he joins the legendary Tony Cruz as the only person to collect the feature both as a rider and a trainer.

The significance of the moment wasn’t lost on the 50-year-old, who admitted the stress meant the run down the home straight felt much longer than 22.92 seconds.