13/04/2016  Happy Valley  Race 4

CASA MASTER was withdrawn on 12.4.16 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right front foot) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter HIGH SPEED METRO (T H So). Before being allowed to race again, CASA MASTER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. MR VANILLA shifted out at the start and bumped SPEEDY WALLY. MIGHTY WONGCHOY began awkwardly, shifted out and became unbalanced after bumping VICTORY BOYS. ORACLE began awkwardly. Despite being ridden along in the early stages, CASA JUNIOR failed to muster speed. Passing the 1200 Metres, SPEEDY WALLY was steadied away from the heels of MIGHTY WONGCHOY (Apprentice K K Chiong) which shifted in when not properly clear. Apprentice Chiong was reprimanded. After the 1200 Metres, KHARU was left racing wide and without cover. Approaching the 1000 Metres, ORACLE was awkwardly placed close to the heels of PROPEL REPEL. CASA JUNIOR, which was following, got its head up when being steadied away from the heels of ORACLE in consequence. In this incident, ORACLE shifted out away from the heels of PROPEL REPEL, resulting in MR VANILLA being hampered when awkwardly placed close to the heels of SPEEDY WALLY. At the entrance to the Straight, HIGH SPEED METRO was hampered when bumped by CASA JUNIOR which, when attempting to improve to the outside of KHARU, was checked away from the heels of that horse which was taken out by VICTORY BOYS. As the Stewards were satisfied that CASA JUNIOR had not improved to be racing outside the heels of KHARU, no further action was taken. At the 250 Metres, PROPEL REPEL became unbalanced when awkwardly placed close to the heels of SPEEDY WALLY which shifted out when commencing to give ground. B Prebble (VICTORY BOYS) was fined the sum of $5,000 for using the whip to excess over the concluding stages on a horse which was clearly winning. When questioned, Z Purton, stated that, from barrier 3, he had been asked to have SPEEDY WALLY race in about 5th or 6th position. He said he had the opportunity passing the winning post on the first occasion to shift in and race on the rail behind ORACLE, however, due to SPEEDY WALLY's racing manners in the past, he decided it was in the best interests of the horse to remain racing away from the rail and because of this decision SPEEDY WALLY then raced in a more forward position than had been intended. He said after being crossed by MIGHTY WONGCHOY passing the 1200 Metres, SPEEDY WALLY proved very difficult to settle for a considerable distance and got its head up when being checked away from the heels of that horse which resulted in him having to shift SPEEDY WALLY out from behind MIGHTY WONGCHOY near the 900 Metres. He said rather than raced in a position wide and without cover, he then allowed SPEEDY WALLY to improve to race outside the lead. He said because of SPEEDY WALLY's racing manners, the horse then was not able to finish off the race. He added, having regard to the manner in which SPEEDY WALLY weakened in the Straight, he was of the opinion that the horse may be better suited by being ridden more conservatively than it was this evening. A veterinary inspection of SPEEDY WALLY immediately following the race found that horse to have sustained a small laceration to the right hind leg. A veterinary inspection of CHOICE EXCHEQUER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. SPEEDY WALLY, VICTORY BOYS and MR VANILLA were sent for sampling.