14/01/2017  Shatin  Race 9

ISTANBUL BEY began only fairly. GORGEOUS KING was slow to begin. KING OF MONGOLIA stumbled on jumping. GENERAL SHERMAN (N Callan) began very awkwardly, shifted in and bumped heavily with UNIQUE JOYOUS, resulting in N Callan becoming unbalanced. From the outside barrier, WILLIE WAY was steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners. Approaching the 1600 Metres, LOTUS BREEZE shifted in abruptly and was awkwardly placed close to the heels of PRAWN BABA. Passing the 1600 Metres, HAPPY ROCKY was shifted away from the heels of BOOMING DELIGHT which shifted out. For some distance after the 1500 Metres, GENERAL SHERMAN got its head up when awkwardly placed close to the heels of HAPPY ROCKY. MR PELE lost its right front plate near the 1100 Metres. Approaching the 1000 Metres, WILLIE WAY got its head up on a number of occasions when awkwardly placed behind MR PELE. After the 700 Metres, MAMBO ROCK and WILLIE WAY raced tight as WILLIE WAY shifted out. Near the 600 Metres, WHOOP WHOOP got its head on the side and shifted out towards the heels of PRAWN BABA. After this, WHOOP WHOOP commenced to give ground and approaching the 500 Metres UNIQUE JOYOUS was awkwardly placed close to the heels of WHOOP WHOOP when being shifted to the outside of that horse. WHOOP WHOOP was then eased down rounding the Home Turn. A veterinary inspection of WHOOP WHOOP immediately following the race found that horse to have bled from both nostrils. Passing the 400 Metres, GORGEOUS KING raced tight between HAPPY ROCKY and GENERAL SHERMAN. In the Straight, GORGEOUS KING lay in under pressure. When questioned, B Prebble (HAPPY ROCKY) stated that the pace of the race in the early stages had only been fair and after the 1000 Metres he believed that the race was developing into a sprint home and as the favoured runners, namely PRAWN BABA and BOOMING DELIGHT, were racing in advance of HAPPY ROCKY, he did not feel his mount would show a sufficient turn of foot to be competitive with those horses when the tempo of the race quickened. He said therefore near the 1000 Metres he permitted HAPPY ROCKY to shift out and improve its position as he felt that this would provide the horse with the best opportunity to finish off the race. He added when he improved to be racing towards the lead near the 800 Metres, LOTUS BREEZE, which was racing to the inside of HAPPY ROCKY, increased the tempo which resulted in HAPPY ROCKY being left racing in a three wide position without cover for the remainder of the race. A veterinary inspection of LOTUS BREEZE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. BOOMING DELIGHT and PRAWN BABA were sent for sampling.