06/01/2016  Happy Valley  Race 4

FUNNY BUDDIES was crowded for room on jumping between BUSINESS AS USUAL which shifted out and ELEGANCE KLAMMER which shifted in after beginning awkwardly. REAL GENEROUS was slow to begin. HAPPY MOMENTS began awkwardly, shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of PLAIN BLUE BANNER. PLAIN BLUE BANNER was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. In the early part of the Straight, PLAIN BLUE BANNER was awkwardly placed close to the heels of REAL GENEROUS when shifting to the outside of that horse to obtain clear running. At the 200 Metres, WINASWEWISH raced tight with SMART UNION. Throughout the race, SMART UNION travelled wide and without cover. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of FUNNY BUDDIES, G Benoist stated that he was able to obtain a good position behind the leader BUSINESS AS USUAL in the early stages. He said he became concerned with the manner in which FUNNY BUDDIES was travelling after the 900 Metres as the horse was reluctant to maintain its positon directly behind BUSINESS AS USUAL. He said he had to ride FUNNY BUDDIES along after the 700 Metres in order to maintain its position and then after the 500 Metres had to place the horse under considerable pressure. He added, despite being vigorously ridden out, FUNNY BUDDIES did not respond to his riding and commenced to give ground rounding the Home Turn. He said he was not able to offer any explanation for the horse's disappointing performance. Mr D J Hall, the trainer of FUNNY BUDDIES, stated that he was not able to offer any explanation for the horse's disappointing performance as he expected it to perform particularly well given its inside barrier. He said when being saddled up FUNNY BUDDIES became fractious and kicked the wall of the saddling stall, however, appeared to take no harm from the incident as it walked out freely and was also sound following the race. He added FUNNY BUDDIES had done well since its most recent start and he was at a loss at this time to explain the horse's performance. A veterinary inspection of FUNNY BUDDIES immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of GALAXY PRANCER, D Whyte stated that he rode his mount along in the early stages in an attempt to take up a good position. He said however GALAXY PRANCER was reluctant to stretch out and because of this raced further back in the field than had been hoped. He said passing the 1000 Meters he was racing in a position one horse off the rail following the eventual winner HAPPY MOMENTS and whilst there was an opportunity for him to shift GALAXY PRANCER to the rail to improve its position inside HAPPY MOMENTS, he noted that the rider of HAPPY MOMENTS had a number of looks to his inside and he felt that rider was going to direct HAPPY MOMENTS towards the rail which would have provided GALAXY PRANCER an opportunity to improve its position. He said GALAXY PRANCER maintained its position one horse off the rail, however, he was not concerned by this as he wanted to ensure that GALAXY PRANCER was given clear running in the Straight so as to finish off the race as best as it could. He added GALAXY PRANCER did not commence to travel strongly until near the 700 Metres despite the race being run at an average tempo. He said he shifted GALAXY PRANCER out rounding the Home Turn and placed the horse under pressure, however, he was unable to prevent PLAIN BLUE BANNER from shifted out to his inside in the early part of the Straight and then, despite being ridden out, GALAXY PRANCER was disappointing in its failure to respond to his riding. He further stated that when placed under pressure in the Straight, GALAXY PRANCER did not feel completely comfortable in its action. A veterinary inspection of GALAXY PRANCER immediately following the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse's trachea. Before being allowed to race again, GALAXY PRANCER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. After the race, B Prebble stated that the tempo of the race in the early stages did not suit SIR JOHN given that, in his opinion, the horse has difficulty in seeing out the 1650 Metres. He said as a consequence the horse was then not able to finish off its race and weakened in the Straight. A veterinary inspection of SIR JOHN immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. GALAXY PRANCER, HAPPY MOMENTS and TRUE COMMENT were sent for sampling.