08/01/2012  Shatin  Race 8

At declaration time, K C Leung was declared as the rider of both SPACE RACE and TREND MASTER. It was established that K C Leung had a firm commitment to ride TREND MASTER. As such, the Stewards permitted Apprentice T H So to be substituted as the rider of SPACE RACE. For this declaration error, K C Leung was fined $2,000. MERRY ANNIVERSARY blundered badly on jumping. TREND MASTER was slow to begin. KEEN TACTICS was slow to begin and then shortly after the start was crowded for room between PONDEROSA which shifted in and HANNIBAL BARCA which was taken out by SUPREME JEWELLERY. RED LUCKY STAR was unable to obtain clear running from approaching the 500 Metres until after the 300 Metres. Near the 200 Metres, LONGWAH RISING and SUPREME JEWELLERY, which were giving ground, were hampered when crowded for room between SPACE RACE which hung out and CASTLE HERO (Apprentice C Y Ho) which was directed to the inside of PONDEROSA to obtain clear running. Apprentice Ho was severely reprimanded and advised that this was the third occasion today that the Stewards had had to speak to him in respect of a matter involving aspects of his riding. He was advised that he must ride with more care than he has in today’s races. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that PONDEROSA had bled from both nostrils and was displaying an irregular heart rhythm. Before being permitted to race again, PONDEROSA will be required to perform satisfactorily in an official barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of SUPREME JEWELLERY, D Beadman stated that his mount travelled very strongly in the early and middle stages. He said after the 400 Metres he commenced to ride SUPREME JEWELLERY along and the horse immediately got its head up and was reluctant to stretch out. He said despite being ridden along SUPREME JEWELLERY did not respond and although the horse was hampered near the 200 Metres, it was nonetheless most disappointing in the manner in which it weakened out of the race over the final 300 Metres. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of CHARITY SPIRIT, G Mossé stated that he had ridden the horse in a gallop in the lead up to today’s race and that work, in his opinion, had been fair. He said after following SPACE RACE in the early and middle stages, he placed CHARITY SPIRIT under pressure after the 400 Metres. He said after initially responding to his riding, the horse commenced to give ground near the 350 Metres and was most disappointing in its failure to finish off the race. A veterinary inspection of CHARITY SPIRIT, XI YING MEN and SUPREME JEWELLERY after the race did not show any significant findings. VINTAGE HUSSLER and CASTLE HERO were sent for sampling.