Whyte booked for HK cup ride on Ambitious Dragon
Champion jockey Douglas Whyte is back on board Ambitious Dragon for the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup and Jockey Club stewards are investigating whether Maxime Guyon's booking in last Sunday's shock defeat was made 'in good faith'.
After winning the QE II Cup last May and the National Day Cup first-up on the five-year-old, Whyte was dropped by trainer Tony Millard in favour of Guyon, who was flown in to ride Ambitious Dragon in his Group Two lead-up race to the international Group One contest.
The French rider was heavily criticised after tracking wide throughout the Jockey Club Mile on the long odds-on favourite before Ambitious Dragon was overhauled in the final stages by Destined For Glory.
'As I said when I lost the ride, the owner Mr Lam [Pui-hung] is a gentleman and I'm only too pleased to ride his horse again,' Whyte said.
'It wasn't confirmed until late on Wednesday night, after the races, but I'm very happy about it.
'I've said all along Ambitious Dragon is as good a horse as I've ever ridden. I know he was beaten on Sunday but it was a huge performance - it just shows that even champions get beaten when they are given a task like he was. He lost nothing, in my opinion, with that defeat.'
Guyon has been held to the French Cup runner, Byword, trained by Andre Fabre, for whom he is the stable jockey, and owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah, with whom Guyon is contracted as first jockey. Jockey Club policy is that connections use the jockeys present in Hong Kong for races other than Group One events.
They may only fly jockeys in for a lesser race provided there is a written undertaking from the owner that the same jockey will also have the mount in the subsequent Group One target.
Chief steward Kim Kelly said his panel's only task would be to investigate whether the engagement of Guyon for the Group Two race had been legitimate.
'There is no dispute about which horse he will ride on December 11 - Guyon will be on Byword - but we want to make sure that the club and Ambitious Dragon's owner were not misled by an arrangement that was not made in good faith,' Kelly said.
After Byword won the Group Two Prix Dollar in Paris in October, Abdullah's racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, was quoted as detailing the Hong Kong Cup as the target for the horse. The confusion appears to have started when Byword was subsequently eighth in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Churchill Downs.
'I have heard Maxime Guyon's side of the story - that Hong Kong was never mentioned again after the Breeders' Cup run, and he only became aware of the possibility again after last Sunday,' Kelly said.
'We plan to contact Teddy Grimthorpe about that and also the trainer, though it is anticipated that may take time as Mr Fabre is currently somewhere in Argentina. There is no hurry, as Guyon's ride in the Hong Kong Cup is clear, but we just want to determine the circumstances of last Sunday's booking.'
A contractual arrangement in Europe might also see Australian jockey Craig Williams back aboard Dunaden in the Hong Kong Vase next month, after suspension cost him the winning Melbourne Cup ride on the Mikel Delzangles-trained stayer.
Christophe Lemaire, who took over the reins in the world's richest handicap, is contracted to ride for the Aga Khan, who has two runners in the 2,400m race, Vadamar and the filly, Shareta, who runs in the Japan Cup this weekend.
Williams, now riding in Japan, said he had been contacted by Delzangles but had no confirmation of the Vase ride at this stage.
In other news, English mare Snow Fairy became the first of 31 invited horses for the international meeting to arrive yesterday.
Last year's Hong Kong Cup winner and the nominal Vase favourite, Snow Fairy flew in from Japan where she won her second Queen Elizabeth Commemorative Cup two weeks ago.
