01/02/2015  Shatin  Race 5

After being loaded, SIROCCO TOO became fractious and lunged at the front gate. SIROCCO TOO was removed from the barriers and examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was suitable to race. Before being allowed to race again, SIROCCO TOO will be required to perform satisfactorily in an official barrier trial. Also after being loaded, JUST MISTERE became fractious. Before being allowed to race again, JUST MISTERE will be required to perform satisfactorily in a stalls test. After the 1000 Metres, DASHING FORTUNE raced tight between SENSATION and SIROCCO TOO which got its head on the side and shifted in away from YO-YO DA. Near the 900 Metres, SENSATION was hampered when crowded for room inside SIROCCO TOO which in turn was taken in by YO-YO DA (C K Tong). C K Tong was reprimanded and advised to ensure that he is sufficiently clear of other runners when shifting ground. After the 900 Metres, DASHING FORTUNE was left racing wide and without cover. At the 800 Metres, WINNER ST PAUL’S commenced to prove very difficult to settle and shifted out after getting its head up when being checked away from the heels of DASHING FORTUNE. After this, WINNER ST PAUL’S continued to prove very difficult to settle and near the 700 Metres again shifted out away from the heels of DASHING FORTUNE. After the 800 Metres, LUCKY FOLLOW ME commenced to travel keenly and shifted out away from the heels of JUST MISTERE, resulting in THUNDERSTROKE being taken wider. LUCKY FOLLOW ME then continued to travel keenly for some distance after this. Approaching the 200 Metres, SIROCCO TOO shifted out and bumped DASHING FORTUNE. After this, SIROCCO TOO and DASHING FORTUNE raced tight for some distance. Passing the 50 Metres, TELECOM BOSS was bumped by BEAR RAPPER which shifted out in an endeavour to improve outside MULTIMAX. Then close to the finishing line, TELECOM BOSS was steadied when crowded for room between YO-YO DA and BEAR RAPPER which, after shifting out into tight running between TELECOM BOSS and MULTIMAX, was then taken out by that horse which shifted slight ground. As the Stewards were satisfied that there was no rider error involved in this incident, no further action was taken. Over the concluding stages, SENSATION was steadied when disappointed for running between YO-YO DA and SIROCCO TOO and consequently was not able to be ridden all the way to the end of the race. When questioned, B Prebble (BEAR RAPPER) stated that, from barrier 12, it had been decided to shift his mount across behind runners to avoid covering unnecessary ground. He said near the 700 Metres he was following THUNDERSTROKE in a three wide position as he had considered shifting BEAR RAPPER to the outside of runners rounding the Home Turn. He said however that he noticed WINNER ST PAUL’S and THUNDERSTROKE both to be racing ungenerously and covering ground, therefore he felt that it was in BEAR RAPPER’s best interests to save ground on that horse and for this reason he shifted the horse in at about the 600 Metres and was able to improve between runners rounding the Home Turn. He said in the early part of the Straight he was following SENSATION and he intended to follow that horse into the race as SENSATION was one of the obvious main chances in the race. He said when that horse then did not improve quickly enough after the 300 Metres, he elected to shift his mount in away from the heels of SENSATION to obtain clear running. A veterinary inspection of SENSATION immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. SENSATION, MULTIMAX and YO-YO DA were sent for sampling.