Lyle Hewitson, Douglas Whyte dominate Happy Valley with trebles

Banishing memories of December’s injuries, Lyle Hewitson exalted in the finest display of his Hong Kong career by posting a treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (27 April), matching South African compatriot’s Douglas Whyte’s effort to snare a three-timer.

Seriously injured in a fall in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) on 12 December, Hewitson’s persistence was duly rewarded with consecutive wins on World Famous (Ricky Yiu), Valiant Elegance and Xponential – who are both trained by Whyte – to seal a determined, methodical recovery.

All three of Hewitson’s winners, along with Frankie Lor’s Rewarding Together, who claimed the Class 3 Min Fat Handicap (1200m) for Matthew Chadwick, had been stabled in Conghua before returning to Hong Kong for tonight’s meeting – a week after Conghua produced a trio of winners at the city circuit.

Notching the first treble of his career outside of his native South Africa, Hewitson suffered a fractured pelvis in December’s fall and was sidelined for several weeks before logging a frustrating sequence of minor placings.

The amicable 24-year-old struck the target with his first Hong Kong double at Sha Tin last Sunday (24 April) and made it five wins and two seconds from seven rides across successive meetings with his Happy Valley treble this evening.

“It’s fantastic. I’m very, very happy. All things are going well and just credit to everyone who has given me opportunities. It sounds like a stuck record, but you can’t do it without opportunities and I’m very happy for that,” Hewitson said after Xponential prevailed in the first section of the Class 4 Tsap Tseung Handicap (1200m).

“Things are going well. I’ve been working hard and getting as many good results from horses that were probably running above expectations and then the opportunities came.

“It took one or two wins just to get my confidence back up and, fortunately, I’m getting lots of rides that are worth coming to the course for and making the most of it.

“It’s been fantastic and I’ll never take anything for granted anymore. I’m just going to keep accepting those opportunities and make the most of them until the end of the season and come back in good spirits for next season.”