22/04/2015  Happy Valley  Race 7

RIDE WITH THE WIND was withdrawn on 21.4.15 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter VERDANE (B Prebble). GOODHEART SUCCESS was withdrawn on raceday morning by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right fore foot). Before being allowed to race again, RIDE WITH THE WIND and GOODHEART SUCCESS will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. GOLDEN ADDICTION began awkwardly and shortly after the start became badly unbalanced when being checked away from the heels of NONE OTHER which shifted out. This resulted in GOLDEN ADDICTION losing ground. From the outside barrier, VERDANE was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. NONE OTHER lost its left hind plate near the 1600 Metres. Passing the winning post on the first occasion, MEDALLIST shifted in when proving difficult to settle and awkwardly placed close to the heels of EXPECTATOR, resulting in CHATER LEGEND being crowded for room. Then approaching the 1300 Metres, MEDALLIST shifted in momentarily despite the efforts of its rider, resulting in CHATER LEGEND again being crowded for room. Near the 900 Metres, NOBLE DE MAN got its head on the side and lay in towards the heels of CHATER LEGEND, resulting in AGIAAL being crowded for room. At the entrance to the Straight, CHATER LEGEND was awkwardly placed close to the heels of EXPECTATOR. Passing the 300 Metres, NOBLE DE MAN was disappointed for running between MEDALLIST and LITTLE DRAGON, both of which shifted ground. When questioned, C Y Ho stated that after having been instructed to obtain a forward position on HORSE APLENTY, he rode his mount vigorously in the early stages to clear runners to his inside. He said at all times from on jumping until well after passing the winning post on the first occasion he pushed his mount in an endeavour to have it cross runners to its inside, however, HORSE APLENTY did not show enough early speed and consequently was left racing in a three wide position without cover after the 1300 Metres. He said although the tempo of the race in the early stages had been relatively sedate, after the 1200 Metres he felt that KERKENI, which was leading, and NONE OTHER, which was racing to the immediate inside of HORSE APLENTY, were travelling strongly and he believed that had he allowed HORSE APLENTY to improve its position, the riders of those horses would have continued to hold their position. He said having in mind how much use he had made of HORSE APLENTY in the early stages, he felt that it would not be in its best interests to continue to push his mount forward. He added for this reason HORSE APLENTY was left racing three wide and without cover throughout the race. A veterinary inspection of MEDALLIST and HORSE APLENTY immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of GOLDEN ADDICTION immediately following the race did not show any significant findings, however, the horse was unable to be scoped due to being fractious. CHATER LEGEND and AGIAAL were sent for sampling.