12/05/2021  Shatin  Race 8

SUNSET WATCH was withdrawn on 10.5.21 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter GUNNISON. Before being allowed to race again, SUNSET WATCH will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. H T Mo (MOERAKI) was fined the sum of $3,000 for initially weighing out without a girth which required his saddle to be returned from the saddling area in order for him to be re-weighed. TRADER shifted out at the start and bumped the hindquarters of GUNNISON which became unbalanced. MAN STAR began only fairly. HARMONY SPIRIT was bumped by ELON on jumping when that horse was taken out by CALIFORNIA CONCORD. At the 400 Metres, GOLFMAN STAR was shifted out away from the heels of GOOD VIEW CLARICO which was taken out by MAN STAR. SKY SHOW, which was following GOLFMAN STAR, was awkwardly placed close to the heels of that horse when being shifted out to obtain clear running. Near the 150 Metres, SKY SHOW was bumped by STAR OF YUEN LONG which was racing tight inside HARMONY SPIRIT. Near the 75 Metres, CALIFORNIA CONCORD got its head on the side and shifted out towards the heels of SKY SHOW. CALIFORNIA CONCORD was then momentarily steadied away from the heels of GUNNISON near the 50 Metres when that horse shifted to the outside of MAN STAR. Approaching the finishing line, STAR OF YUEN LONG was steadied away from the heels of HARMONY SPIRIT (Apprentice C L Chau) which shifted in under pressure. In this incident, STAR OF YUEN LONG shifted in and bumped SKY SHOW. Apprentice Chau was severely reprimanded and told that in similar circumstances he would be expected to stop riding and straighten his mount rather than continuing to ride it along, causing unnecessary hampering to other horses. Throughout the race, GOLFMAN STAR and STAR OF YUEN LONG travelled wide and without cover. Mr D J Hall, the trainer of QUADRUPLE DOUBLE, stated that he felt that from the wide barrier too much use would have to be made of QUADRUPLE DOUBLE, which was having its first race start on the All Weather surface tonight, for it to be ridden in a forward position. He said he was of the opinion that there were a number of horses engaged in tonight’s race that had shown speed in their races and therefore he instructed M F Poon, the rider of QUADRUPLE DOUBLE, to shift his mount across behind runners in the early stages to obtain cover which he felt would provide QUADRUPLE DOUBLE with the best opportunity to finish off the race. After the race, M L Yeung reported that TRADER was travelling strongly rounding the Home Turn, however, immediately came under pressure at the entrance to the Straight when MAN STAR commenced to improve to the outside of TRADER. He said after this TRADER gave ground noticeably and when giving ground made an abnormal breathing noise. A veterinary inspection of TRADER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of CALIFORNIA CONCORD, HARMONY SPIRIT, GOLFMAN STAR and MOERAKI immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. MAN STAR and HARMONY SPIRIT were sent for sampling.