15/04/2012  Happy Valley  Race 3

SAFARI MAGIC began awkwardly. SUPER BROTHER was slow to begin. MEGA POSH knuckled over at the start and consequently lost ground. Passing the 1000 Metres, ALWAYS WELL was steadied away from the heels of MR AWARD. DEPOT BOY and SHAREMA FEELING, which were following, were hampered in consequence. After the 1000 Metres, RACING LEGEND raced tight between ALWAYS WELL which shifted out slightly and WELL DONE which was racing tight to the inside of QUIET CONFIDENCE. Approaching the 800 Metres, WELL DONE was steadied away from the heels of QUIET CONFIDENCE (M Du Plessis) which shifted in when not properly clear. M Du Plessis was advised to ensure that he is sufficiently clear when shifting ground in future. Also approaching the 800 Metres, MEGA POSH was left racing wide and without cover. Approaching the 600 Metres, WELL DONE became unbalanced when being checked away from the heels of QUIET CONFIDENCE. RACING LEGEND, which was following, got its head up when proving difficult to settle in consequence. After the 600 Metres, SHAREMA FEELING was awkwardly placed close to the heels of MEGA POSH and shifted out, taking SUPER BROTHER wider. Near the 550 Metres, RACING LEGEND again got its head up when awkwardly placed close to the heels of WELL DONE. Rounding the Home Turn, ALWAYS WELL became unbalanced when racing tight inside RACING LEGEND. As a consequence, ALWAYS WELL then bumped the running rail, became very unbalanced and lost a considerable amount of ground. DEPOT BOY, which was following, was checked away from the heels of ALWAYS WELL in consequence. Over the concluding stages, ALWAYS WELL was awkwardly placed close to the heels of QUIET CONFIDENCE. Because of this, ALWAYS WELL was not able to be ridden out to the end of the race. When questioned, C W Wong advised that, from the outside barrier, he was asked to obtain cover on WELL DONE. He said at its two most recent starts, from wide barriers, the horse had travelled keenly after being ridden into a forward position and because of this had not been able to finish off its races. He said he was therefore asked today to obtain cover if possible to have the horse more settled and be able to finish off the race. He said according to his instructions he shifted WELL DONE across behind runners in the early stages and after making the first turn was able to obtain a position one out one back behind QUIET CONFIDENCE. He said although WELL DONE was inclined to over-race at various times in today’s race, the horse then closed off the race well in the Straight after being able to be ridden with cover. When questioned, O Doleuze stated that at the entrance to the Straight he shifted TWIN TURBO out from behind the leader to make its finishing run. He said TWIN TURBO responded well to his riding and, in his opinion, was going to run a clear second, however, near the 100 Metres the saddle on TWIN TURBO shifted back, resulting in the horse becoming very awkward in its action and commencing to attempt to buck. He said because of this he was not able to ride the horse out over the concluding stages as he normally would. He added that on pulling up the saddle on TWIN TURBO had shifted back appreciably. A veterinary inspection of TWIN TURBO after the race did not show any significant findings. When questioned, Apprentice K C Ng (ALWAYS WELL) stated that after commencing to travel keenly making the turn near the 1000 Metres, he had to steady ALWAYS WELL away from the heels of MR AWARD for some distance. He said near the 900 Metres MR AWARD quickened the tempo slightly which resulted in a gap developing between MR AWARD and ALWAYS WELL. He said whilst he was niggling ALWAYS WELL along at this time to maintain its position on the back of MR AWARD, he was reluctant to ride the horse aggressively given the manner in which it travelled keenly in the early stages. He said when attempting to improve its position to continue to race on the back of MR AWARD, ALWAYS WELL was awkwardly placed inside the heels of TWIN TURBO which, approaching the 800 Metres, commenced to shift in towards the fence. He said once again having in mind the manner in which ALWAYS WELL had travelled in the early stages, he did not ride it along at this time to prevent TWIN TURBO from shifting in so as to prevent ALWAYS WELL from recommencing to over-race. Apprentice Ng was advised that his explanation would be reported, however, wherever possible he should make every endeavour to maintain his positions in races. A veterinary inspection of ALWAYS WELL after the race did not show any significant findings other than the horse had sustained a small wound to the inside of the left front pastern. A veterinary inspection of DEPOT BOY after the race did not show any significant findings, however, the Veterinary Officer reported that the horse was very fractious and he was not able to perform an accurate endoscopic examination. MR AWARD and WELL DONE were sent for sampling. <16/4/2012 Additional Veterinary Report> The Clinical Veterinary Surgeon reported that WELL DONE was lame in the right front foot on the morning after racing. Before being allowed to race again, WELL DONE will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.