25/05/2014  Shatin  Race 6

HELENE FUN STAR lost its left hind plate shortly after the start. Shortly after the start, LUCKY BOLE raced tight between ELEGANCE KLAMMER and EVERYONE’S FORTUNE. From wide barriers, GRAND CHAMPION and DRAGON were taken across behind runners shortly after the start. Approaching the 1400 Metres, ELEGANCE KLAMMER was steadied away from the heels of LUCKY BOLE which was taken in by HEY CHEERS. Near the 1000 Metres, HEY CHEERS got its head up when awkwardly placed close to the heels of DEMOKLES. At the 400 Metres, EVERYONE’S FORTUNE momentarily raced in restricted room between JOLLY GOOD STAR and ROYAL ELEGANCE which lay in. When questioned, T Berry stated that after shifting his mount across behind runners from a wide barrier in the early stages, ROYALE ELEGANCE commenced to prove very difficult to settle after the 1500 Metres and he was not able to shift the horse in across behind runners due to horses improving their positions to his inside. He said when left racing without cover, ROYALE ELEGANCE commenced to pull very hard, as it had done in some of its previous races. He added he attempted to have the horse race towards the rear of the field as he was instructed, however, despite his efforts ROYALE ELEGANCE pulled its way forward in the field and he was not able to prevent it from improving at this time. He said ROYALE ELEGANCE became unbalanced after jumping a shadow on the track near the 850 Metres when racing in a three wide position without cover. He said due to the manner in which ROYALE ELEGANCE travelled, the horse was then not able to finish off its race. A veterinary inspection of ROYALE ELEGANCE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. When questioned, J Moreira (FASTER MORE) stated that although his mount was inconvenienced at the start when JOLLY GOOD STAR shifted out, nonetheless FASTER MORE did not show any early speed and he had to ride the horse aggressively for some distance in the early stages in an endeavour to have it improve its position. He said when he did this, his saddle shifted back, placing him at a disadvantage. He said FASTER MORE did not travel well during the early and middle stages and he had to continually ride his mount along in an endeavour to ensure it consolidated its position. He said he had to ride the horse with the whip from the 700 Metres as FASTER MORE was not responding to being ridden along hands and heels. He added in the early part of the Straight FASTER MORE commenced to make ground slowly and near the 250 Metres he had to shift out away from the heels of EVERYONE’S FORTUNE to continue improving. He said after this FASTER MORE then found the line strongly and its best part of the race was the final 200 Metres. He said FASTER MORE today performed similarly to the manner in which it barrier trialed in the lead up to today’s race when the horse was off the bridle in the early stages but then finished off the trial quite well. A veterinary inspection of FASTER MORE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. FASTER MORE, LUCKY BOLE and HEY CHEERS were sent for sampling.