14/01/2017  Shatin  Race 5

HROVAT and RACING MATE began only fairly and shortly after the start were crowded for room between EASY TOUCH and BLAZE STAMINA (O Murphy) which shifted out when being ridden along. O Murphy was warned against the practice of riding his mounts along from the barriers and allowing them to shift ground. DR LISTENING and NOBLE DE BOY bumped at the start. ALWAYS WIN began only fairly. From wide barriers, LAMAROSA and GLORIOUS PARTNERS were shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Passing the 900 Metres, LAMAROSA became unbalanced. Making the turn after the 900 Metres, REGENCY DARLING got its head on the side and lay out and in the middle stages continued to lay out. Then in the early part of the Straight, REGENCY DARLING got its head on the side and hung out. For some distance approaching and passing the 300 Metres, REGENCY DARLING, which continued to hang out, was bumped by DR LISTENING which, when endeavouring to shift to the outside of MARVEL TRIBE (M L Yeung), was required to continue to shift out as that horse drifted out under pressure in advance of DR LISTENING. This resulted in DR LISTENING being awkwardly placed close to the heels of MARVEL TRIBE during this incident. M L Yeung was advised that in similar circumstances he would be expected to make more effort than he did on this occasion to prevent his mount from shifting ground. Passing the 150 Metres, NOBLE DE BOY raced tight outside RACING MATE which shifted to the outside of ALWAYS WIN to obtain clear running. Passing the 100 Metres, RACING MATE was awkwardly placed close to the heels of REGENCY DARLING. RACING MATE then had difficulty obtaining clear running over the concluding stages and was not able to be properly tested. When questioned, S de Sousa stated that over the concluding stages REGENCY DARLING, which hung out throughout the race, shifted out abruptly and in doing so shifted out towards BLAZE STAMINA. He said for this reason he was obliged to stop riding his mount and straighten REGENCY DARLING to prevent it from causing interference to BLAZE STAMINA. After considering the evidence and viewing the films, the Stewards accepted Jockey de Sousa’s explanation. Throughout the race, BLAZE STAMINA travelled wide and without cover. DR LISTENING and HAPPY AGILITY were sent for sampling.