30/01/2013  Happy Valley  Race 6

AMAZINGLY began awkwardly and shortly after the start was steadied when crowded for room between NEW GREENFIELD and LITTLE WIND which shifted out after being bumped by LEELI’S STAR. From a wide barrier, NOBLE DE BEST was taken across behind runners shortly after the start. Passing the winning post on the first occasion, AMAZINGLY raced tight inside CHEER which itself was awkwardly placed inside LEELI’S STAR. Near the 1100 Metres, FREAK ZONE momentarily raced tight inside FLYING UNICORN which got its head on the side and shifted in slightly. Passing the 1100 Metres, LITTLE WIND was awkwardly placed close to the heels of AMAZINGLY. Passing the 1000 Metres, LEELI’S STAR got its head up when racing close to the heels of CHEER. Near the 300 Metres, NOBLE DE BEST was steadied when crowded for room between LEELI’S STAR and CHEER (Y T Cheng) which, after initially being shifted out away from the heels of SPIRIT SOARING which itself shifted out under pressure, then shifted further of its own accord. Y T Cheng was severely reprimanded and advised to exercise more care when shifting ground in future. When questioned, T Clark stated that he had been instructed to obtain a forward position on SPIRIT SOARING and hopefully obtain a position behind the leaders. He said he had to make use of SPIRIT SOARING in the early stages in an attempt to obtain a position as instructed, however, SPIRIT SOARING was reluctant to travel into a forward position. He said passing the winning post on the first occasion SPIRIT SOARING became badly unbalanced when bumped by NEW GREENFIELD which shifted in. He said when FREAK ZONE, which he had been following, shifted to the rail near the 1300 Metres, he niggled at SPIRIT SOARING in an attempt to prevent NEW GREENFIELD from crossing in front of SPIRIT SOARING, however, SPIRIT SOARING did not improve its position at that time as he would have expected. He said rather than continue to ride the horse along, he elected to allow NEW GREENFIELD to cross SPIRIT SOARING to ensure that SPIRIT SOARING was travelling comfortably. He said the circumstances of the race in the early stages resulted in SPIRIT SOARING racing further back in the field than had been intended. REGENCY KING and FREAK ZONE were sent for sampling.