04/01/2017  Happy Valley  Race 4

ROYAL PARTNER was withdrawn on 3.1.17 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter VICTORY FOLLOW ME. Before being allowed to race again, ROYAL PARTNER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. DIGITAL PIONEER was slow to begin. Shortly after the start, MUTUAL JOY raced in restricted room between GO GO WIN and SPINNING DANCER which shifted out. From the outside barrier, AGIAAL was steadied shortly after the start and shifted across behind runners. Approaching the winning post on the first occasion, WISKY and GO GO WIN raced tight. After the 900 Metres, VICTORY FOLLOW ME shifted in and bumped DIGITAL PIONEER. At the 750 Metres, GO GO WIN and WISKY raced tight as WISKY improved around GO GO WIN. After the 600 Metres, WIN IT and SPINNING DANCER bumped. Approaching and passing the 400 Metres, SPINNING DANCER was awkwardly placed close to the heels of METALLIC STAR. When questioned, Apprentice K K Chiong stated that she had been instructed to take up a forward position on METALLIC STAR and lead if circumstances allowed, however, it would be acceptable to take up a position in 2nd or 3rd place if the tempo was too strong. She said, from barrier 9, she had to make considerable use of METALLIC STAR to take up a forward position and EMPEROR VICTORY, which was drawn immediately outside METALLIC STAR, showed more speed than her mount without being ridden aggressively in the early stages. She said, despite being hard ridden, METALLIC STAR was unable to prevent EMPEROR VICTORY from crossing passing the winning post on the first occasion and after that horse obtained the lead on the rail, she was able to shift METALLIC STAR to race outside that horse after the 1200 Metres. Apprentice Chiong said because of the amount of use she had to make of METALLIC STAR in the early stages, she felt that the best option was to position METALLIC STAR outside EMPEROR VICTORY rather than continuing on to lead. She added even though the tempo of the race slackened appreciably after the 1200 Metres, she was reluctant to press on into the lead as she felt that it was in the horse’s best interests to be given a breather in the middle stages before again being pressured later in the race. She said, in hindsight, it would have been better to have allowed METALLIC STAR to improve around EMPEROR VICTORY when the tempo of the race slackened after the 1200 Metres. Apprentice Chiong was advised that whilst the Stewards acknowledged that she had made considerable use of her mount in the early stages, nonetheless having regard to her riding instructions, the opportunity was available to allow METALLIC STAR to improve around EMPEROR VICTORY of its own accord when that horse steadied the tempo in the lead. When questioned, C Y Ho (EMPEROR VICTORY) stated that after riding his mount positively in the early stages to obtain the lead approaching the first turn, EMPEROR VICTORY was inclined to lay out making the turn after the 1300 Metres and he had to apply pressure to his right rein in an attempt to have his mount rail. He said because he had to ride EMPEROR VICTORY in this manner, the pace of the race steadied more abruptly than he had hoped. He said near the 1100 Metres, for a short distance EMPEROR VICTORY commenced to race more tractably and he allowed the horse to stride along, however, making the turn after the 1000 Metres EMPEROR VICTORY again lay out and once again he was required to apply more pressure to his right rein to help the horse around the turn. He added because of the manner in which EMPEROR VICTORY was racing, he had to reduce the tempo of the race more than he had hoped as it was his intention to lead at a more genuine speed. He said after entering the Back Straight he balanced EMPEROR VICTORY in order to have the horse run at a more genuine tempo, however, the horse was unable to increase the tempo which allowed a number of runners to come from behind EMPEROR VICTORY to assume the leading positions. WISKY, CASA MASTER and SPINNING DANCER were sent for sampling.