27/09/2017  Happy Valley  Race 6

BRAVE LEGEND began awkwardly, shifted out and bumped heavily with BREEDERS’ STAR, resulting in that horse being severely hampered and taken out onto NUCLEAR POWER which was also hampered and shifted out and bumped heavily with DOUBLE VALENTINE which, after beginning awkwardly, then lost further ground. YOUNG EMPIRE and GRACE HEART bumped at the start. After making contact with GRACE HEART, YOUNG EMPIRE became unbalanced and shifted in, hampering WINNING SUPREME and WINNERS FOLLOW ME. From the outside barrier, WINNERS PIONEER was steadied at the start and shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. Passing the 1100 Metres, BRAVE LEGEND shifted out and brushed BREEDERS’ STAR which in turn shifted out and inconvenienced NUCLEAR POWER. Approaching the 800 Metres, BREEDERS’ STAR commenced to prove difficult to settle and shifted out away from the heels of WINNING SUPREME which was taken out by STARLIGHT. When questioned, Apprentice M F Poon stated that when crowded for room soon after the start, NUCLEAR POWER became unbalanced. He said whilst it was intended to ride NUCLEAR POWER in about a midfield position, when caught three wide outside BREEDERS’ STAR approaching the first turn, he elected to steady his mount and shift in behind BREEDERS’ STAR to obtain cover which resulted in NUCLEAR POWER settling further back in the field than had been intended. He said as the race was run at a slow tempo in the early stages and developed into a sprint home, NUCLEAR POWER was disadvantaged by the tempo of the race and in all the circumstances he felt the horse closed off the race in a reasonable manner. A veterinary inspection of NUCLEAR POWER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. STARLIGHT and GRACE HEART were sent for sampling.