A classy double at Sha Tin yesterday took South African Glyn Schofield tangibly closer to achieving the biggest ambition of his career - gaining a year-long licence to ride in Hong Kong.

  Schofield, 36, has ridden in Hong Kong all season but the critical distinction is that his licence has been given and renewed three months at a time.

  "Yes, this year has been absolutely wonderful for me and I'm delighted with the way things have gone," Schofield said last night. "I'm now crossing my fingers that the licensing committee will give me a year's licence when they make the announcement in a couple of weeks.

  "For the last 1-1/2 to two years, I have been riding overseas without my wife and children. But if I get a licence to ride here for the year, I can bring them over with me and I can't tell you what a difference that will make. It would be so good to be back together again."

  Schofield's has wife Tiffany and three children --- Whitney, 11, Chad, 8 and Demi 5 --- residing out of his former base at Durban.

  "I miss them very much and would love the chance to have them all here with me," he said. "It's very hard not being there when your children are

growing up, and speaking to them on the phone when they're wanting to know why you're not there. But hopefully, we can all be together again next season."

  Realistically, there is little more Schofield can do to impress those charged with the responsibility of licensing expatriate professionals in Hong Kong racing.

  His double yesterday on Noble Victory for trainer Peter Ng Bik-kuen in the second race and favourite Never Headed for John Moore in the fifth took him to 44 wins for the season, leapfrogging Felix Coetzee into fourth spot on the jockeys' premiership.

  Trainers, owners and rank-and-file punters have warmed to the generally high quality of his riding and his sheer consistency. And the only three names ahead of him on the jockeys' table are a formidable trilogy indeed ---

Douglas Whyte, Shane Dye and Gerald Mosse.

  Noble Victory, the first of Schofield's winners, is a speedy individual by the New Zealand-based Danzig stallion, Kashani, and is closely related to Australia's champion three-year-old filly of 1989-90, Tristanagh.

  "Noble Victory had a nice soft run, just behind the early speed and when I moved out on him at the 400 metres, he worked to the front and then held on strongly when the second horse (Amour) came at him," Schofield said.

  The 10-1 chance only had a neck to spare at the end of the Class Four dash over 1,000 metres, with the runner-up being ridden by 10 pound claimer Paul Lo Pak-hin.

  Schofield had to fight considerably harder to land his second winner Never Headed, who survived in a desperately-close photo from the late-closing Step Forward (Douglas Whyte).

   "He took a forward position but was posted a little wide, which may not have been a bad thing because at least he was avoiding the kickback on the all-weather," Schofield explained.

  "I thought he was in trouble shortly after turning for home but he dug in really deep and responded well. He won in Class Five, and it's not too many can go on and win two races in Class Four after that. But he does excel on the all-weather track -- that's the big thing he has in his favour."

  Never Headed is a three-year-old Australian-bred gelding by former Preakness Stakes winner Timber Country, a Woodman stallion who stood in Japan and shuttled to Arrowfield Stud, New South Wales, for three southern hemisphere breeding seasons.