Patience was the key word when Chris So Wai-yin helped Christian Reith break a long winless streak with Spirit Soaring, as both trainer and jockey have displayed plenty of the priceless commodity during a slow start to the season, reports HK Racing Post.

Reith was riding a 119-ride stretch without success, and the man who gave him his first winner was there to help again as the likeable Australian got off the mark for the new term.

"It's a process, it's frustrating, but you just have to tough it out," Reith said on his first winner since June. "I have had a few close calls and that has made it more frustrating, but to get over the line for that first win was a big relief."

After riding the final five weeks of last season, Reith has had limited opportunities so far in 2014-15 but Reith is committed to staying as long as possible with his wife Benita, and the couple's eight-year-old daughter is enrolled in school here. "If the opportunity is here to stay, I will. I enjoy living here and really enjoy the racing. Back home is great, but this is the pinnacle for jockeys all around the world," he said.

Spirit Soaring was one of two winners, along with Regency Luck, for So, who has heard the whispers of a "sophomore slump" after an exceptional rookie campaign that garnered 39 wins and had a solitary win going into yesterday.

The trainer says the downturn is simply a result of having a massive group of unraced horses that he refuses to rush for the sake of short-term success. At the back end of last season So was already replacing older handicappers with new stock, and it resulted in a quiet time for the yard that has continued on.

So had just one winner in the final two months of last term, and that was Reith's last winner - Lucky Choice - but now the young horseman is looking forward to the future with a big group of untapped talen