20/06/2010  Happy Valley  Race 8

KOENIGSBERG proved difficult to load. As KOENIGSBERG had previously had an embargo placed upon it for being difficult to load, the Stewards ruled that the horse must perform satisfactorily in an official barrier trial before being allowed to race again. KOENIGSBERG began awkwardly, shifted out and made contact with MY MEMORY, resulting in both horses becoming badly unbalanced. Shortly after the start, TEAM WORK was crowded for room between JUMBO GOLD and BEAUTIFUL DREAMER, both of which shifted ground. From wide barriers, GLORIOUS ERA and SUPERIOR UNIT were taken across behind runners shortly after the start. Passing the 550 Metres, KOENIGSBERG was steadied when tightened for room between SHIFACHI TRADITION and FIRST IN COMMAND, both of which shifted ground. SUPERIOR UNIT, which was following KOENIGSBERG, was checked away from that horse’s heels in consequence. When questioned, C K Tong (BEAUTIFUL DREAMER) stated that he had been instructed to obtain a position behind the leaders today if possible. He said he was positive on the horse in the early stages to obtain a forward position as instructed and BEAUTIFUL DREAMER responded well to his riding. He said JUMBO GOLD and FREE AND EASY were positioned to his inside in the early stages and having regard to the positioning of those horses in respect of BEAUTIFUL DREAMER, he did not believe it was available to him to then restrain his mount and obtain a position behind those horses, therefore he allowed BEAUTIFUL DREAMER to maintain a forward position. Trainer K L Man confirmed the instructions given to C K Tong. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of FIRST IN COMMAND, J Lloyd stated that he had been instructed to obtain a forward position and it was anticipated that his mount would be able to race outside the likely leader, SOLAR UP. He said when SOLAR UP was not able to lead in the early stages as he thought it would, FIRST IN COMMAND was left racing extremely wide. He said making the first turn passing the 1000 Metres, it appeared to him that SOLAR UP was going to have difficulty in crossing to the rail, therefore he elected to try and obtain cover behind runners rather than remain racing wide. He added when he did this, MY MEMORY maintained its position to his inside and FIRST IN COMMAND was left racing wide until passing the 600 Metres. He said although FIRST IN COMMAND was able to obtain cover at this time, in his opinion, the work that it had to do in the early and middle stages resulted in the horse not being able to finish off the race in the Straight. A veterinary inspection of FIRST IN COMMAND after the race did not show any significant findings other than the horse had lost its left front plate. JUMBO GOLD and SHIFACHI TRADITION were sent for sampling. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that GLORIOUS ERA was making an abnormal breathing noise and an endoscopic examination confirmed the horse to be a “roarer”.