25/05/2011  Happy Valley  Race 4

STAR OF FAME was slow to begin and then making the first turn near the 1000 Metres got its head up, shifted out and in doing so became unbalanced. After the 1000 Metres, the saddle of H W Lai (SUPERIOR WARRIOR) shifted forward, placing him at a significant disadvantage for the remainder of the race. After the 900 Metres, JUST CHILL was left racing wide and without cover. BRILLIANT ONE was not able to obtain clear running from shortly after the 200 Metres until near the 50 Metres. When questioned, W C Marwing stated that from barrier 11 he had been instructed to have THINK BIG race in 5th or 6th position with cover. He said it was felt that there was good speed drawn inside THINK BIG and that for this grade THINK BIG does not possess the necessary speed to be able to cross runners without considerable use having to be made of the horse. He said THINK BIG began well, however, JUST CHILL and DIAMOND RAINBOW, which were drawn to his immediate inside, also began well and he felt that had he have ridden THINK BIG along to obtain the position as instructed, his mount would be likely to be left racing wide and without cover. He said for this reason he elected shortly after the start to shift across behind JUST CHILL to ensure that THINK BIG was able to obtain cover. Trainer C H Yip confirmed that he had instructed Jockey Marwing to have THINK BIG race in 5th or 6th position if possible as he is of the view that there were a number of fast-paced horses drawn closer to the inside and that were THINK BIG to be ridden forward, the horse would not be able to finish off the race. He said however that due to the circumstances of the race THINK BIG travelled further back in the field than had been intended. When questioned, Trainer T W Leung, the trainer of MEGABUCKS, stated that three starts ago MEGABUCKS, when ridden from a rearward position, had closed off the race strongly. He said at its subsequent start at Sha Tin on 27 March 2011, the horse again finished off the race strongly when ridden behind midfield. He said at its most recent start some use was made of MEGABUCKS in an attempt to try and obtain a slightly more forward position, however, the horse had been found to have a substantial amount of blood in its trachea after this. He added that as MEGABUCKS had previously raced well from back in the field, he instructed G Cheyne, the rider of MEGABUCKS, to again ride the horse quietly to see if it could finish off the race. He said he also instructed G Cheyne to attempt to find the fence if possible as he is of the opinion that the horse had raced well in the past when ridden in this manner. Mr Leung was advised that the tactics adopted on MEGABUCKS tonight had come under notice and that he would be expected to be consistent in the instructions given to riders of this horse in the future. SUPERIOR WARRIOR and SOU MA TAM were sent for sampling.