Whyte and Teetan can show punters the way

Clint Hutchison

– It has been a lean start to the season for 13-time champion jockey Dougie Whyte but he has a couple of sound chances to open his account and the pick of those is Supernatural in the Yau Tong Handicap (Race 3) at Happy Valley today.

It is not often Whyte gets down in the weights to ride one these days but he clearly saw enough in the opening run of the season from Supernatural, when apprentice ridden, caught wide and without cover at Sha Tin on

Hong Kong

the opening day.

Already this season the benefit of a run has been an edge that has proved fruitful for a handful of horses and that might be the case for this son of Excellent Art who has drawn in gate No 3.

There are a couple of main chances to take in the boxed Exacta, one of those being Sweet Bean, to be ridden by Joao Moreira. Sweet Bean ran well against Supernatural on his first-up run this term and the booking of Moreira is worth noting, given they have won on four occasions.

The other boxed Exacta option is Fun Manager, who hit the frame over the Valley 1600m on his seasonal reappearance and might strip that little bit fitter this time around.

Whyte has another good chance to score in the penultimate event aboard the Dennis Yip-trained Super Leader. The New Zealand-bred gelding was a fast finisher in a busy finish on his first run back this term, when Whyte was aboard, and he closed stylishly after being taken back at the start from a wide gate.

If Whyte can hold a half-decent position from a low draw, then Leader looks a sound chance to win his second race in Hong Kong.

Karis Teetan rides the main threat in Moment Of Power, who will be rolling along in front and his lead-up barrier trial was excellent work. It might be a good option to banker these two in a Quartet with some value runners.

One of those is David Ferraris’ charge Fantastic Feeling, who ended last campaign in a rich vein of form and whose recent all-weather barrier trial was excellent.

Also include Travel Datuk. Although he rarely wins, he rarely runs a bad race. Wonderful Fighter can improve with a move back to the city circuit.

The best Eachway bet on the card is in the final event, Almababy, who was brave in defeat on his seasonal return behind key rival Convincible (Teetan). Almababy meets Convincible on 2.5kg better terms for a 0.50-length defeat and that weight swing might be just enough to turn the tables. And Mr Genuine, who finished third to that pair, reeled off the best final 200m sectional at the meeting and can be included in boxed Exactas.