25/03/2015  Shatin  Race 2

CHINA DELIGHT and DUAL HAPPY bumped on jumping. From a wide barrier, FOLLOW THE WIND was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Approaching the winning post on the first occasion, GOOD FIT was shifted out away from the heels of HOLY MAC. Passing the winning post on the first occasion, TELEPHATIA was steadied away from the heels of GOOD FIT which shifted out. After this, TELEPHATIA proved difficult to settle and got its head up for some distance when being checked away from the heels of GOOD FIT passing the 1400 Metres. Then near the 1200 Metres, TELEPHATIA lost ground when being checked away from the heels of GOOD FIT. Approaching the 1200 Metres, FOLLOW THE WIND got its head on the side and lay out towards the heels of GOOD FIT. Near the 300 Metres, DASHING SUPER, which was commencing to give ground, was steadied away from the heels of CHINA DELIGHT which was taken out by HAPPY MOMENTS (D Whyte) which got its head on the side and hung out. D Whyte was advised to ensure that in similar circumstances he makes every endeavour to prevent his mounts from shifting ground. After this, HAPPY MOMENTS continued to lay out and proved difficult to ride and over the concluding stages was awkwardly placed inside the heels of CHINA DELIGHT. When questioned, C Y Ho stated that he had been instructed to take up a forward position on DASHING SUPER from the outside barrier. He said DASHING SUPER was slow to begin and therefore he had to ride the horse along in the early stages to have it travel forward and clear other runners to its inside. He said shortly after the start DASHING SUPER commenced to improve its position and he was able to make up lost ground without having to ride it along too vigorously. He said making the first turn after passing the winning post on the first occasion he was able to position DASHING SUPER in a three wide position outside the leader. He said he did give some thought to pressing on to see if DASHING SUPER could obtain the outright lead or obtain a position closer to the rail rather than remain racing three wide. He added, however, he felt that given the circumstances of the race up to about the 1400 Metres he believed he would have had to make too much use of DASHING SUPER in an attempt to cross KING OF REASON and JOLLY GOOD STAR to its inside and that these horses would likely be ridden so as not to surrender their leading positions. He said passing the 1400 Metres DASHING SUPER was only travelling fairly and he did not believe that the horse was travelling strongly enough, given the tempo of the race, to attempt to obtain the lead. C Y Ho was advised that whilst the Stewards accepted that the manner in which DASHING SUPER began from the outside barrier made his task of leading more difficult, nonetheless, in the opinion of the Stewards, he should have made an effort in the early and middle stages to press forward to see if it was possible to clear the runners to his inside to avoid travelling wide and without cover. A veterinary inspection of GOOD FIT immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. CRUISE CONTROL, JOLLY GOOD STAR and KING OF REASON were sent for sampling.