31/01/2016  Shatin  Race 4

MY LITTLE FRIEND was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Shortly after the start, ACCEPTED was bumped by COUNTRY MELODY which got its head on the side and was shifted in away from GO BABY GO. Despite being ridden along in the early stages, LOVELY DELOVELY failed to muster speed. In the early stages, IMPERIAL CHAMPION raced with its head on the side and after the 600 Metres lay in away from the outside rail. Near the 450 Metres, ACCEPTED was awkwardly placed inside the heels of IMPERIAL CHAMPION which continued to lay in when commencing to give ground. Passing the 200 Metres, RIGHTEOUS got its head on the side and shifted out behind GO BABY GO. Then near the 50 Metres, RIGHTEOUS again shifted out towards the heels of GO BABY GO. Close to the finishing line, GENERAL SHERMAN was awkwardly placed close to the heels of RIGHTEOUS. When questioned regarding his riding of HIGH VOLATILITY particularly near the 200 Metres, Y T Cheng stated that it was expected HIGH VOLATILITY would be out-paced in the early stages as it was stepping back in distance to the 1000 Metres of today's race. He said he was asked to ride HIGH VOLATILITY along in the early stages to ensure that the horse did not get too far out of its ground. He said he was also instructed that if possible he should make his run towards the outside. He said in the early stages, despite being vigorously ridden along, HIGH VOLATILITY did not show any early speed and he had to ride the horse along aggressively for about the first 200 metres of the race in an endeavour to have it as close to the leaders as possible. He said after the 800 Metres he niggled his mount along in an endeavour to maintain its position and after the 700 Metres again continued to ride HIGH VOLATILITY along. He added approaching the 400 Metres he was following COUNTRY MELODY which was racing behind the leader IMPERIAL CHAMPION. He said passing the 350 Metres COUNTRY MELODY shifted to the outside of IMPERIAL CHAMPION which lay in and at this time he used the whip on HIGH VOLATILITY in an endeavour to follow COUNTRY MELODY. He said when hit with the whip, HIGH VOLATILITY shifted in, placing him away from the outside rail. He said as he was a number of lengths behind the horses in front, he balanced HIGH VOLATILITY up in order to shift to the outside rail to continue to follow COUNTRY MELODY through as there were a number of horses that were racing to the inside of IMPERIAL CHAMPION, namely ACCEPTED and RIGHTEOUS. He added when he commenced to shift HIGH VOLATILITY out, IMPERIAL CHAMPION was some way ahead of HIGH VOLATILITY, however, when he was in a position to shift HIGH VOLATILITY out across the heels of IMPERIAL CHAMPION, that horse gave ground quicker than he anticipated and consequently he was awkwardly placed close to the heels of that horse near the 200 Metres. He said after the 200 Metres he was able to shift HIGH VOLATILITY to the outside of IMPERIAL CHAMPION and after which he immediately commenced to place the horse under pressure and HIGH VOLATILITY then finished off the race strongly. Mr K W Lui, the trainer of HIGH VOLATILITY, confirmed the instructions given to Jockey Cheng. After considering all the circumstances of this matter, Y T Cheng was severely reprimanded and advised that his riding of HIGH VOLATILITY approaching and passing the 200 Metres had come under notice. He was further placed on notice that he must ride his mounts in such a manner so as to leave no room for query. A veterinary inspection of IMPERIAL CHAMPION immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ACCEPTED, MY LITTLE FRIEND and COUNTRY MELODY were sent for sampling.