15/04/2012  Happy Valley  Race 6

JACKTHELAD was withdrawn on 14.4.12 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (fever) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter SPACE RACE (O Doleuze). Before being allowed to race again, JACKTHELAD will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. RIDE ON THE FIRE and LUCKY TURBO bumped at the start. After the 700 Metres, LOADS OF JOY was left racing wide and without cover. At the 600 Metres, WINNING SCHOLAR broke down and was retired from the event. After the 600 Metres, GENKI MOOCHI got its head on the side and hung out. Near the 100 Metres, BOULD MOVER was shifted to the inside of HAWTHORNE. When questioned, O Doleuze stated that, from the outside barrier, he had been asked to ride SPACE RACE, which was having its first start for Trainer R Gibson today, quietly as it was anticipated that the race would be run at a strong tempo and if SPACE RACE were to be ridden forward, it may be left racing wide. He said for this reason, shortly after the start, he shifted SPACE RACE across towards the fence behind the field, however, as early as the 900 Metres he was obliged to commence riding SPACE RACE along to have the horse maintain its position. He said as SPACE RACE was losing ground, he rode the horse vigorously prior to the 800 Metres to have it maintain its position behind the eventual winner, MERRY ANNIVERSARY. He said as SPACE RACE was not travelling well, he shifted the horse out widest of all rounding the Home Turn to see if it could finish off the race, however, SPACE RACE did not respond to his riding and failed to make ground. He added after the race he recommended to connections that they consider racing SPACE RACE at Sha Tin in the future and also consider adding blinkers to the horse’s gear to help it travel better in its races. A veterinary inspection of SPACE RACE after the race did not show any significant findings. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of RIDE ON THE FIRE, C K Tong stated that he had hoped to be able to obtain the lead in the early stages without having to make too much use of the horse. He said however that SMART KIDS, which was drawn the inside barrier, was ridden along in the early stages and because of this he had to make considerable use of RIDE ON THE FIRE to improve its position and crossed SMART KIDS. He said after obtaining the lead on the rail after the 700 Metres, he elected to steady the tempo on RIDE ON THE FIRE as he was aware that he had made more use of the horse in the early stages than he had hoped. He said RIDE ON THE FIRE came under pressure in the early part of the Straight and weakened out of the race thereafter. He added, in his opinion, the horse’s disappointing performance could be attributed to the amount of use he had to make of RIDE ON THE FIRE in the early stages. A veterinary inspection of RIDE ON THE FIRE after the race did not show any significant findings. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that SMART KIDS had lost its left front plate. EASTERN PROMISE, MERRY ANNIVERSARY and HAWTHORNE were sent for sampling.