04/10/2015  Shatin  Race 5

PERCY JACKSON shifted out at the start and bumped VARA PEARL which began awkwardly. BLAZING PASS and JUMBO SPIRIT bumped at the start. From the outside barrier, GOOD FIT was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Near the 1600 Metres, DRAGON BACHELOR was steadied away from the heels of HEALTH WISE (C Schofield) which shifted in when not properly clear. C Schofield was severely reprimanded and advised to ensure that he is properly clear when shifting ground in similar circumstances. After the 1200 Metres, ROUGE ET BLANC was left racing wide and without cover. Rounding the Home Turn, LEVEL PLAYER and TELEPHATIA bumped as TELEPHATIA attempted to shift out into clear running. Then in the early part of the Straight, TELEPHATIA was held up for clear running. TELEPHATIA then continued to be held up for some distance after the 300 Metres and approaching the 250 Metres was taken out away from the heels of ROUGE ET BLANC. TELEPHATIA continued to be badly held up for clear running until passing the 150 Metres. At the 400 Metres, LEVEL PLAYER and DRAGON BACHELOR were hampered when taken out by ROUGE ET BLANC which was bumped and taken out by BLAZING PASS which shifted out and away from HEALTH WISE. Passing the 400 Metres, VARA PEARL was shifted in away from the heels of BLAZING PASS. Passing the 200 Metres, LEVEL PLAYER was straightened after shifting in towards the heels of DRAGON BACHELOR which shifted out after bumping ROUGE ET BLANC. M L Yeung, the rider of the 6th placegetter, TELEPHATIA, pleaded guilty to a breach of Rule 100(2) in that he failed to ride his mount out all the way to the end of the race to the satisfaction of the Stewards. M L Yeung was fined the sum of $15,000. When questioned, C Y Ho (JUMBO SPIRIT) stated that after the 900 Metres he was racing to the outside of BLAZING PASS which at this time was racing near the rail. He said passing the 800 Metres he rode his mount along to improve to the outside of BLAZING PASS in an attempt to prevent that horse from shifting out, however, as he did this, BLAZING PASS shifted away from the rail to obtain a position outside SPIRIT SOARING, resulting in JUMBO SPIRIT being taken into a three wide position. He said as he steadied JUMBO SPIRIT to obtain a trailing position behind BLAZING PASS, HEALTH WISE improved quickly to the inside of JUMBO SPIRIT and for this reason he was not able to shift in and was consequently left racing in a three wide position albeit he was eventually able to find cover behind BLAZING PASS which was subsequently taken out marginally by SPIRIT SOARING. He added after the 700 Metres ROUGE ET BLANC improved its position around JUMBO SPIRIT, however, he was reluctant to ride his mount along to prevent that horse from improving its position as this would have resulted in JUMBO SPIRIT having to race in a four wide position without cover. He said in the early part of the Straight he was held up for clear running behind BLAZING PASS and then shifted to the inside of that horse to follow the winner HEALTH WISE through. He said JUMBO SPIRIT was somewhat flat-footed and near the 200 Metres, after being ridden along, was once again held up for clear running behind SPIRIT SOARING. He said after being able to shift JUMBO SPIRIT out, his mount was again racing in a restricted position between SPIRIT SOARING and ROUGE ET BLANC which was shifting ground in advance of JUMBO SPIRIT. He said because of this he momentarily had to stop riding JUMBO SPIRIT after the 100 Metres. C Y Ho was advised that his explanation would be reported. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of DRAGON BACHELOR, B Prebble stated that his mount did not show as much early speed as it did at its last start on the All Weather Track and then was hampered near the 1600 Metres which resulted in DRAGON BACHELOR racing further back in the field than had been intended, nonetheless DRAGON BACHELOR travelled well throughout the early and middle stages. He said he shifted DRAGON BACHELOR out rounding the Home Turn and although the horse became unbalanced when taken out shortly after entering the Straight, it continued to quicken well in the early stages of the Straight. He added however near the 200 Metres the horse's run ended and DRAGON BACHELOR was then disappointing in the manner in which it failed to close off the race over the concluding stages. He said the only excuse he could offer for DRAGON BACHELOR's disappointing performance today was that the horse may not have backed up from its first up start when successful as it had had quite a hard run on that occasion. A veterinary inspection of DRAGON BACHELOR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. When questioned, N Callan (THE SYLPH) stated that after the 1200 Metres he shifted in to race to the outside of the leader SPIRIT SOARING. He said he was content to maintain this position outside that horse, however, when he steadied THE SYLPH, the horse immediately commenced to get its head up and proved difficult to settle. He said THE SYLPH had done this on a number of occasions in its previous races and did so two starts ago when he rode the horse in the lead. He added as the rider of SPIRIT SOARING was attempting to steady that horse, he believed it was in the best interests of THE SYLPH to improve its position into the outright lead rather than him having to fight against the horse and for it to continue to over-race. A veterinary inspection of THE SYLPH immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of VARA PEARL immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. DRAGON BACHELOR, HEALTH WISE and WEALTHY FORTUNE were sent for sampling.