11/04/2018  Happy Valley  Race 4

SPEEDY WALLY, first Standby Declared Starter, was withdrawn on 10.4.18 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore). MULTIGOGO was also withdrawn on 10.4.18 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right fore) and was replaced by second Standby Declared Starter I’M A WITNESS (Apprentice M F Poon). Before being allowed to race again, SPEEDY WALLY and MULTIGOGO will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. NAMJONG INVINCIBLE, which was fractious in the barriers, began awkwardly. I’M A WITNESS and MAGIC AGILITY bumped at the start. KING BOUNTIFUL was slow to begin. From the outside barriers, HAPPY AND HEALTHY, ENORMOUS HONOUR and INDIGENOUS STAR were all shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Passing the 800 Metres, DOCTORS DELIGHT was taken into a three wide position by PLANET STAR when that horse was able to shift away from the rail due to ELECTRIC LIGHTNING, which had been previously been racing to the outside of PLANET STAR, improving its position at this time. Then passing the 750 Metres, PLANET STAR and DOCTORS DELIGHT raced tight. Upon pulling up, J Moreira immediately dismounted from SEE ME NOW whilst still on the track as he felt the horse was lame in its right front leg. SEE ME NOW was sedated and removed from the track in the horse ambulance and accordingly a thorough veterinary inspection of the horse was unable to be completed. SEE ME NOW will be subject to a further examination once the effects of the sedative have worn off. A further release will be issued at the appropriate time. When questioned, T Berry stated that although he was initially instructed to obtain the box seat on PLANET STAR from its inside barrier, he was content to try and lead the race if possible as horses had raced well in the earlier races which were ridden on the speed. He also said he did not want to be behind MAGIC AGILITY which was being aggressively ridden to obtain a forward position as he did not believe this horse would be able to maintain a forward position at a critical time in the race. He said he therefore rode PLANET STAR along for some distance in the early stages in an attempt to lead the race. He said approaching the winning post on the first occasion PLANET STAR was at its top speed and when MAGIC AGILITY continued to be hard ridden to obtain the lead, he was left with no option but to allow that horse to cross PLANET STAR after passing the winning post on the first occasion. He said he was still comfortable with this position bearing in mind his initial instructions were to obtain the box seat, however, when MAGIC AGILITY allowed I’M A WITNESS to cross into the lead after the 1100 Metres, this resulted in PLANET STAR being further back than he had hoped. He added as soon as it was available to him, he shifted out from behind MAGIC AGILITY passing the 800 Metres to follow the eventual winner ELECTRIC LIGHTNING. He said PLANET STAR was initially reluctant to improve its position rounding the Home Turn as the horse did not appear to appreciate racing amongst runners, however, after being shifted to the outside of DOCTORS DELIGHT in the early part of the Straight into clear running, PLANET STAR then finished off the race strongly. A veterinary inspection of KING BOUNTIFUL and INDIGENOUS STAR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ELECTRIC LIGHTNING and PLANET STAR were sent for sampling. <12/4/2018 Additional Veterinary Report>It was reported that upon pulling SEE ME NOW up J Moreira immediately dismounted from the horse whilst still on the track as he felt the horse was lame in its right front leg. SEE ME NOW was sedated and removed from the track in the horse ambulance and accordingly a thorough veterinary inspection of the horse was unable to be completed. The Veterinary Officer has this morning reported that SEE ME NOW was lame in both front legs. Before being allowed to race again, SEE ME NOW will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.