Xponential is not in the same league as Golden Sixty, but like Hong Kong’s champion miler, Douglas Whyte’s sprinter produced a career-best performance at the age of eight to end the calendar year on a high.

A race winner in each of his five seasons as a member of Whyte’s stable, Xponential posted his first Class Two victory at Sha Tin on Boxing Day when he held on to win the public holiday’s feature event, the Choi Hung Handicap (1,200m) on the all-weather circuit.

Almost the rank outsider of the field – Computer Patch, who has not won a race since October 2020, was marginally longer odds when the barriers opened – $15.35 roughie Xponential led for the first half of the contest before Ping Hai Galaxy railed through as the eight speedsters galloped around the final bend.

Whereas Ping Hai Galaxy compounded to finish a four-length last, Xponential found more under his jockey Karis Teetan, beating dirt debutant Seasons Wit by a nose, with Chancheng Prince in third and $2.65 favourite Majestic Star close up in fourth.

It was Xponential’s second win from his five starts this season, with the versatile veteran competing across both of Hong Kong’s venues and surfaces.

“I’ve always said if I could have a dozen of him in my yard, I’d be OK,” Whyte said. “He never knows how to run a bad race. He’s so consistent. Whether it be the dirt, Happy Valley, Sha Tin turf – he always seems to present himself and give his best.

“An eight-year-old [winner] in Class Two. You don’t often see that. He’s got a lot of youth on his side. He’s as sound as ever. He’s just enjoying life.

“The rating and the programme dictate where you run horses, and unfortunately for him, with his rating, this race fell into line with where I had to run him. He just accepts everything I ask of him. It doesn’t matter the surface. He seems to handle it.”

Xponential, whose official handicap rating will be at a new peak somewhere in the mid-80s, was the first leg of Teetan’s Boxing Day double.

“It was a very tough win,” said Teetan, whose 33 victories this term rank him second to Seasons Wit’s rider, Zac Purton, in the jockeys’ championship.

“Dougie said, ‘let’s make use of the light weight from the nice gate’. The instruction was to try to get to the front. I just couldn’t get to the front, so I had to come back. He settled, and once I pressed him, he went again. It was a really good win.

“Some horses in that situation would give up because it’s too much work, but this just shows how tough he is. He’s got a big heart, and he’s always trying.”

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Later, Teetan steered Raging Blizzard to success in the Class Three Nam Shan Handicap (1,200m), yet again getting the better of Purton in a photo finish.

Raging Blizzard hit the front with 300m left, but Gorgeous Win kept him company all the way to the line, with only a short head separating the well-backed Classic Series-eligible youngsters after they began at $2.65 and $2.05, respectively.

Like Xponential, it was Raging Blizzard’s second win this term, although the John Size-trained four-year-old is only starting out after debuting towards the end of the 2022-23 season.