26/03/2017  Shatin  Race 3

AGILITY HERO was slow to begin. JOLLY CONVERGENCE began only fairly and then shortly after the start was steadied when crowded for room between TRIUMPHANT JEWEL and PRIMERO which shifted out. Near the 450 Metres, CLASSIER was shifted in away from the heels of CALIFORNIA ASPAR. After this, CLASSIER was awkwardly placed close to the heels of CALIFORNIA ASPAR which shifted out. When questioned regarding his riding of SUNSHINE UNIVERSE passing the 300 Metres, O Doleuze stated that there were runs available both to the outside and to the inside of GALLANT ROCK (M Chadwick) at this time. He said he elected not to shift to the outside of GALLANT ROCK as he was aware that that horse had weakened in a number of its recent races and he felt that if this happened, the horse would be more inclined to shift out and therefore he elected to avail himself of the run to the inside of GALLANT ROCK and to the outside of BOTH LUCKY (Apprentice M F Poon). He added as he was improving into this run, SUNSHINE UNIVERSE was inclined to get its head on the side and he felt that the horse was shy of BOTH LUCKY rather than laying out away from that horse. He said SUNSHINE UNIVERSE continued to have clear running until passing the 150 Metres at which time the horse was checked when crowded for room between BOTH LUCKY which shifted out marginally and GALLANT ROCK which lay in. JOLLY CONVERGENCE, which was following SUNSHINE UNIVERSE, was checked and shifted in abruptly away from the heels of that horse and in doing so shifted into the running of TRIUMPHANT JEWEL which was inconvenienced. As the Stewards were satisfied that the interference occurred as a result of minor shifts from both GALLANT ROCK and BOTH LUCKY, in the circumstances they did not believe that either Apprentice Poon or Jockey Chadwick should face a charge of careless riding, however, both riders were advised that they had an obligation to make every effort to keep their mounts on a straight course. After considering Jockey Doleuze’s evidence and after viewing the videos, the Stewards accepted his explanation. DRAGON GENERAL and PERPETUAL JOYANCE were sent for sampling.