11/07/2010  Shatin  Race 6

NEW IDEA was withdrawn on 10.7.10 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter MEDIC FORTUNE (Apprentice K C Leung). Before being allowed to race again, NEW IDEA will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. PAPER WINS began awkwardly and then shortly after the start was checked away from the heels of UNITED. CHEERFUL DOUBLE was slow to begin. Passing the 1500 Metres, GREAT FANTASY and UNITED bumped. After the 1000 Metres, CHEERFUL DOUBLE and SUNNY SMILES were left racing without cover. REDOUTE STAR had difficulty obtaining clear running in the early part of the Straight. The performance of GREAT FANTASY, which finished tailed out, was considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, GREAT FANTASY will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in an official barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. When questioned regarding the tactics adopted on TOUCH CHIC, Y T Cheng stated that he had been instructed to position the horse in midfield with cover from the outside barrier. He said in the early stages he rode TOUCH CHIC positively to overcome the wide draw and when it appeared as though there was not much pace in the early stages, he elected to allow TOUCH CHIC to continue on into the lead with a view to, once having obtained a position on the fence steadying TOUCH CHIC and allowing other runners to improve around it which would provide the horse with cover. He added however that when other runners, apart from UNITED, did not improve their positions, TOUCH CHIC was left racing further forward than had been intended. He said at its last start when successful after being ridden towards the rear of the field, the horse had not shown any speed despite being ridden along and therefore he felt it was imperative to ride TOUCH CHIC positively in the early stages of today’s race so that the horse did not get too far out of its ground. Trainer K W Li advised that it had been intended for TOUCH CHIC to be ridden in a more forward position at its most recent start, however, despite being ridden along in the early stages, the horse did not muster speed as had been hoped. He said from barrier 14 today, he instructed Y T Cheng to be positive on the horse in the early stages in an endeavour to have it cross from the wide barrier. He confirmed that he had instructed Y T Cheng to ride TOUCH CHIC in a midfield position with cover if possible, but he accepted that this may have been difficult due to the horse’s wide barrier. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of UNITED, D Beadman stated that his mount raced keenly throughout and because of this did not finish off the race. He said he had intended to travel in a position outside TOUCH CHIC, however, as UNITED proved difficult to settle, he decided to allow the horse to continue on into the lead. He added following the race he had recommended to the connections to either bring UNITED back in distance at its next campaign or give consideration to removing the blinkers from the horse’s gear. When questioned regarding his riding of CHEERFUL DOUBLE between the 300 Metres and the 200 Metres, J Lloyd stated that he rode the horse aggressively rounding the Home Turn in an endeavour to improve around JIMSON THE BEST. He said in the early part of the Straight CHEERFUL DOUBLE became unbalanced in its action and when ZEPHYRUS improved quickly to his inside, he became concerned with the manner in which CHEERFUL DOUBLE was travelling. He said for this reason near the 300 Metres he stopped riding his mount as he felt that it may have gone amiss. He said no sooner that he did this, CHEERFUL DOUBLE then became more fluent in its action and for this reason he recommenced riding the horse along near the 200 Metres. He said over the concluding stages CHEERFUL DOUBLE then finished off the raced fairly. A veterinary inspection of LUFENG FORTUNE and UNITED after the race did not show any significant findings. UNITED, SOUNDS EXCELLENT and ZEPHYRUS were sent for sampling.