29/05/2016  Shatin  Race 10

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS was crowded for room on jumping between MR BOGART and HAMMER KING which shifted in. In this incident, MR BOGART became unbalanced after being bumped on the hindquarters by WASHINGTON HEIGHTS. Passing the 1300 Metres, RACING SUPERNOVA was shifted in away from the heels of OUR FOLKS which shifted in, resulting in WHY WHY racing tight inside RACING SUPERNOVA. After the 1000 Metres, RACING SUPERNOVA travelled keenly when being steadied to allow OUR FOLKS to cross. Making the turn after the 900 Metres, FRIENDS OF KA YING was steadied away from the heels of OUR FOLKS (Apprentice K K Chiong) which shifted in when not quite clear. Apprentice Chiong was advised to ensure that she is sufficiently clear prior to shifting ground in similar circumstances. Passing the 800 Metres, RHODE ASSASSIN was awkwardly placed behind WHY WHY. For some distance after the 800 Metres, HAMMER KING commenced to prove difficult to settle and was awkwardly placed close to the heels of MR BOGART. Then near the 700 Metres, when continuing to prove difficult to settle, HAMMER KING shifted out away from the heels of MR BOGART, resulting in HAMMER KING racing wide and without cover. KEY WITNESS was badly held up for clear running until passing the 250 Metres. WASHINGTON HEIGHTS was held up for clear running until approaching the 250 Metres and passing the 200 Metres was hampered when bumped by FRIENDS OF KA YING which, after initially shifting in marginally, was then taken in further by HELLA HEDGE which shifted in when giving ground. Throughout the race, HELLA HEDGE travelled wide and without cover. When questioned regarding his riding of MR BOGART, Y T Cheng stated that, from barrier 11, he had been asked to ride the horse along in the early stages and obtain a forward position if possible to overcome the wide barrier. He said in accordance with his instructions he rode MR BOGART vigorously for the first 100 Metres of the race in an endeavour to comply with his instructions, however, a considerable number of horses, which were drawn more favourably than MR BOGART, were also ridden to obtain forward positions and he believed that if he continued to ride the horse along, he would not be able to obtain the position as required and would be left racing extremely wide. He said for this reason after the 1300 Metres he elected to steady MR BOGART and obtain a position behind the leaders with cover. He said however that when a number of horses drawn towards the inside were also steadied to allow OUR FOLKS and NEW ASIA SUNRISE to cross, this resulted in MR BOGART being left racing wide and without cover after the 800 Metres. He added passing the 500 Metres he commenced to ride MR BOGART along and in the early part of the Straight rode the horse out hands and heels. He said after being bumped by JADE FORTUNE inside the 400 Metres, MR BOGART became unbalanced which also resulted in him becoming unbalanced. He said he then took some time to rebalance MR BOGART and it was not until near the 200 Metres that he was able to commence to fully test the horse. He said after riding the horse out including using the whip, MR BOGART was finishing off the race only one-paced until near the 100 Metres at which time SECRET COMMAND shifted out to his inside which resulted in him being disappointed for running between that horse and ALL YOU WISH which had improved quickly to the outside of MR BOGART. He said as a consequence he was not able to ride MR BOGART out fully over the concluding stages. Y T Cheng was severely reprimanded and advised that his lack of vigour from inside the 400 Metres until approaching the 200 Metres had come under notice. He was again reminded of a number of times that he had been spoken to regarding his riding of horses this season alone and also informed that this would be brought to the attention of the Licensing Committee at their next meeting. A veterinary inspection of HAMMER KING immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. NEW ASIA SUNRISE and RACING SUPERNOVA were sent for sampling.