02/02/2014  Shatin  Race 4

KEY WITNESS began only fairly, shifted out and in doing so bumped the hindquarters of GREAT PEGASUS which became unbalanced and shifted in abruptly. SUCCESSFUL LEADER began awkwardly and made solid contact with ISLAND GARDEN which shifted in on jumping. From a wide barrier, RECORD AGAIN was taken across behind runners shortly after the start. In the early part of the race, WORLD CITY travelled keenly. Making the first turn near the 900 Metres, SUCCESSFUL LEADER got its head on the side, shifted out and in doing so bumped the hindquarters of RECORD AGAIN which became unbalanced. For some distance after the 300 Metres, WORLD CITY (D Whyte) raced tight inside FLYING RED after being unable to shift to the outside of GREAT PEGASUS into clear running. After the race, D Whyte reported that WORLD CITY hung in and proved difficult to ride in the early part of the Straight. At the 200 Metres, FIGHTING BOY was directed to the inside of KEY WITNESS which shifted out abruptly. At the 150 Metres, HIT THE BID and GREAT PEGASUS raced tight. At the 50 Metres, GREAT PEGASUS, which had its head on the side and was laying in under pressure, shifted ground and bumped HIT THE BID. KEY WITNESS, which was racing inside HIT THE BID, was taken in, resulting in FIGHTING BOY and POWER BLITZ, which were both unable to obtain clear running from after the 100 Metres, racing tight inside KEY WITNESS. For the majority of the race, FLYING RED travelled wide and without cover. When questioned, M Demuro stated that he had been asked to ride POWER BLITZ in about a midfield position if possible. He said he had viewed the horse’s previous runs for another stable and on some of those occasions the horse had shown good early speed and because of this although POWER BLITZ was resuming after a break today, he believed the horse would show enough early speed to be able to be positioned as instructed. He said after beginning only fairly, he rode his mount along in the early stages, however, POWER BLITZ did not show the expected early speed and took some distance to stretch out properly. He added because of this POWER BLITZ raced much further back in the field than had been intended. ISLAND GARDEN lost its left front plate after the race. GREAT PEGASUS and HIT THE BID were sent for sampling.