16/09/2015  Happy Valley  Race 8

On arrival at the Start, the tongue tie fitted to FAT CHOY HONG KONG was replaced. After being loaded, ROMANTIC TOUCH became fractious and lunged at the front gates, resulting in the gates opening, however, ROMANTIC TOUCH remained in its stall. After ROMANTIC TOUCH broke the gates, OBLITERATOR also became fractious and lunged at the front gates, resulting in the horse exiting the barrier stalls, however, was quickly restrained after travelling a short distance and returned to the Start. OBLITERATOR and ROMANTIC TOUCH were examined by the Veterinary Officer who, after the necessary consultations, found both horses to be suitable to race. Before being allowed to race again, ROMANTIC TOUCH and OBLITERATOR will be required to perform satisfactorily in a stalls test. REGENCY KING shifted in abruptly on jumping despite the efforts of its rider, resulting in VANILLA, which was slow to begin, being inconvenienced and TWIN DELIGHT becoming unbalanced when bumped by REGENCY KING. RED DANCER was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Despite being vigorously ridden along in the early stages, GOODHEART SUCCESS failed to muster speed. Passing the 1300 Metres, TOP ACT and TRAVEL FIRST raced tight due to TRAVEL FIRST shifting in to obtain a position with cover behind WINNIE'S HORSE. Making the turn after the 600 Metres, REGENCY KING got its head on the side and lay in. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of OBLITERATOR, D Whyte stated that after OBLITERATOR broke through the front gates, he was able to quickly restrain the horse and return it back to the Start and, in his opinion, there was no veterinary reason why OBLITERATOR could not compete well in the race. He said OBLITERATOR began well and he was able to take up a trailing position behind the leader FAT CHOY HONG KONG in the early stages. He said after the 1200 Metres the tempo of the race quickened and he believed it was in the best interests of OBLITERATOR to refrain from riding the horse along at this stage to maintain its position behind FAT CHOY HONG KONG and therefore he was content to allow TWIN DELIGHT to shift in front of OBLITERATOR. He added OBLITERATOR travelled very well in the middle stages, however, came under pressure after the 500 Metres and did not respond to his riding thereafter. He said in the Straight OBLITERATOR lay in under pressure and proved difficult to ride, however, at this time the horse was already well beaten. A veterinary inspection of OBLITERATOR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of WINNIE'S HORSE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. OBLITERATOR, FAT CHOY HONG KONG and GOODHEART SUCCESS were sent for sampling.