05/01/2014  Shatin  Race 3

At declaration time, H W Lai was declared as the rider of both FAST AND EASY and SLEDGE HAMMER. It was established that H W Lai had a firm commitment to ride SLEDGE HAMMER. As such, the Stewards permitted M Chadwick to be substituted as the rider of FAST AND EASY. For this declaration error, Trainer A Schutz was fined $2,000. TRANSFORMER was withdrawn on 4.1.14 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left hind) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter ALWAYS WONDERFUL (N Callan). Before being allowed to race again, TRANSFORMER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. Whilst in the saddling stalls, SLEDGE HAMMER had its right hind plate refitted. SLEDGE HAMMER was examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was suitable to race. KINGSTON JUMBO was slow to begin. Shortly after the start, MALAYAN GEM was steadied when crowded for room between WORLD CITY and ALWAYS WONDERFUL. In the early and middle stages, WORLD CITY got its head on the side and lay in. For some distance after the 600 Metres, SLEDGE HAMMER raced tight between ALWAYS WONDERFUL and PLAIN BLUE BANNER which got its head on the side and shifted out marginally towards the hindquarters of WORLD CITY. In this incident, ALWAYS WONDERFUL became unbalanced when bumped on the hindquarters by SLEDGE HAMMER. Near the 450 Metres, ALWAYS WONDERFUL shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of AMERICAN FAME which became unbalanced. Passing the 400 Metres, SLEDGE HAMMER was shifted to the inside of PLAIN BLUE BANNER which continued to lay out. N Callan reported that ALWAYS WONDERFUL coughed on a number of occasions after the race. The Veterinary Officer reported that ALWAYS WONDERFUL was subsequently found to have bled from both nostrils. A veterinary inspection of PLAIN BLUE BANNER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. SKY MAN and SEASONS STAR were sent for sampling.