15/02/2012  Happy Valley  Race 3

KING ON EARTH, Standby Declared Starter, was withdrawn on 14.2.12 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left hind). Before being allowed to race again, KING ON EARTH will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. EXCELLENT WIN began awkwardly. Shortly after the start, DISPATCHER was bumped on two occasions by DIAMOND ANGEL which shifted out. From wide barriers, TURIN CHAMPION and GENUINE LEADER were taken across behind runners shortly after the start. After the 600 Metres, BLAZE RAIDER was steadied away from the heels of KING PENDRAGON. After the 500 Metres, ALWAYS WELL was awkwardly placed close to the heels of INTELLECTUALSTRIDE. EXCELLENT WIN got its head on the side and lay in under pressure in the Straight and over the concluding stages raced tight outside BESPOKE MASTER. INTELLECTUALSTRIDE hung in in the Straight and near the 200 Metres shifted in, resulting in DIAMOND ANGEL being inconvenienced. Passing the 150 Metres, GENUINE LEADER had difficulty obtaining clear running between ALWAYS WELL and DRAGON CHOICE. For the majority of the race, DRAGON CHOICE travelled wide and without cover. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of DISPATCHER, D Whyte stated that it had been intended for DISPATCHER to be ridden in a midfield or worse position as the horse had previously shown a good turn of foot when ridden from off the speed. He said DISPATCHER travelled well tonight, however, when placed under pressure rounding the Home Turn did not quicken as he thought it would. He said DISPATCHER stayed on only one-paced in the Straight and, in his opinion, was disappointing. A veterinary inspection of DISPATCHER after the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse's trachea. Before being allowed to race again, DISPATCHER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. When questioned, M Du Plessis stated that KING PENDRAGON, which was having its first start at Happy Valley tonight, was reluctant to proceed to the barriers. He said he had ridden the horse in a gallop at the 1800 Metres in the lead up to tonight’s race and it had pleased him with the manner in which it began from the barriers with the blinkers applied on that occasion. He said tonight however that KING PENDRAGON was slow to begin and because of this raced further back in the field than had been intended. He said approaching the first turn KING PENDRAGON commenced to over-race and had to be checked away from the heels of ALWAYS WELL for some distance. He said KING PENDRAGON continued to race greenly and making the turn near the 600 Metres lost ground when reluctant to maintain its position between GENUINE LEADER and TURIN CHAMPION. He added that after this KING PENDRAGON continued to race greenly and because of the manner in which it had raced was then not able to finish off the race. He said, in his opinion, racing at Happy Valley for the first occasion with the addition of blinkers had been the principal reason for the manner in which KING PENDRAGON had raced tonight. A veterinary inspection of KING PENDRAGON after the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse's trachea. Before being allowed to race again, KING PENDRAGON will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. After the race, an endoscopic examination was conducted on DRAGON CHOICE at the request of Trainer C W Chang. The Veterinary Surgeon said this examination showed that the horse was a “roarer”. DISPATCHER, BESPOKE MASTER and EXCELLENT WIN were sent for sampling.