10/09/2023  Shatin  Race 8

ROMAN TURBO was withdrawn on 9.9.23 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (heart irregularity). LIGHT OF WANSHI was also withdrawn on 9.9.23 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (right front tendon injury). Before being allowed to race again, ROMAN TURBO will be required to perform satisfactorily in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination whilst LIGHT OF WANSHI will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. ALL ARE MINE was slow to begin. BLUE MARLIN jumped only fairly, then over-raced in the middle stages and near the 800 Metres was steadied away from ARIEL. JUNE PLANET was bumped at the start by SO AWESOME which shifted out. FORERUNNER jumped awkwardly and then from a wide barrier was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Shortly after the start, SO AWESOME was bumped by ARIEL which shifted out. For a short distance approaching the 800 Metres, SO AWESOME raced tight to the inside of GOLDEN LINK (Apprentice E C W Wong). Apprentice Wong was advised to exercise care. GOLDEN LINK raced wide and without cover for the majority of the event. When questioned regarding his riding of DIVINE ERA, K C Leung stated that he was requested to take up a forward position on DIVINE ERA if possible and was given the option to lead if circumstances permitted. He said DIVINE ERA commenced well today, but when a number of runners positioned to his inside, particularly GOLDEN LINK, showed an intent of holding a forward position, he was of the opinion that DIVINE ERA would not have sufficient pace to cross runners to his inside and therefore he elected to obtain a midfield position with cover behind BLUE MARLIN. He added that in the middle stages JUNE PLANET improved to his outside which resulted in DIVINE ERA commencing to race keenly for some distance thereafter. He said from the 500 Metres he was held up for clear running behind BLUE MARLIN until the 300 Metres where he was able to commence riding his mount along at which point DIVINE ERA responded well to his riding. After the race, A Badel (SO AWESOME) reported that, in his opinion, his mount would derive benefit from today’s performance. A veterinary inspection of SO AWESOME immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. Also after the race, L Hewitson (ARIEL) reported that his mount was unsuited by being pressured in the lead, particularly with GOLDEN LINK to its outside and as a result did not respond to his urgings in the Home Straight. A veterinary inspection of ARIEL immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of ALL ARE MINE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. KASI FARASI, BLUE MARLIN and DIVINE ERA were sent for sampling.