04/11/2018  Shatin  Race 9

ALCARI’s right front plate was refitted in the saddling stalls. SUN SUN FA FA began awkwardly, shifted in at the start and bumped SACRED IBIS which in turn shifted in and bumped MR WEALTH which began awkwardly and lost ground. MONGOLIAN LEGEND was crowded for room on jumping between ALCARI and DIAMOND KING which shifted out. In this incident, ALCARI became unbalanced when bumped on the hindquarters by MONGOLIAN LEGEND and shifted out and in doing so made heavy contact with the hindquarters of RELENTLESS ME which became badly unbalanced. At this time, ALCARI lost its right front plate. JING JING WIN began very awkwardly and shifted out on jumping, resulting in BEAUTY ENERGY being crowded for room inside MR SO AND SO. After this, BEAUTY ENERGY was shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. Also from a wide barrier, ENCOURAGING was steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners. SUN SUN FA FA raced very greenly in the early stages and got its head up on a number of occasions. Approaching the 1000 Metres, VOYAGE KING, which was proving difficult to settle, was awkwardly placed outside the heels of ALCARI when being steadied to obtain cover behind that horse. Then making the turn near the 900 Metres, VOYAGE KING shifted out away from the heels of ALCARI when continuing to race keenly, resulting in MR SO AND SO being hampered and taken wider. VOYAGE KING was consequently left racing wide and without cover for the remainder of the race. BEAUTY ENERGY made the turn near the 900 Metres awkwardly. For some distance after the 400 Metres, DIAMOND KING raced tight inside the heels of MIGHTY MAVERICK when attempting to improve between that horse and RELENTLESS ME. Because of this, DIAMOND KING was badly held up for clear running. Then after racing tight between MIGHTY MAVERICK and MR WEALTH which improved into tight running inside DIAMOND KING, DIAMOND KING was steadied when crowded for room inside MIGHTY MAVERICK which shifted in marginally passing the 200 Metres. ENCOURAGING, which was following DIAMOND KING, was inconvenienced in consequence. MONGOLIAN LEGEND had some difficulty obtaining clear running prior to the 250 Metres at which stage it was directed to the outside of JING JING WIN to obtain clear running. After being awkwardly placed inside the heels of MR SO AND SO for some distance approaching and passing the 200 Metres, DIAMOND RHYME was directed to the outside of that horse at the 150 Metres to obtain clear running at which stage DIAMOND RHYME made contact with JING JING WIN which became unbalanced. DIAMOND RHYME and JING JING WIN continued to race tight in the run to the finishing line. When questioned regarding the performance of ALCARI, K Teetan stated that he was asked to ride the horse positively and if he was able to obtain an uncontested lead, then he was free to do so, however, if other horses showed as much pace as ALCARI, then it was available to him to obtain a trailing position behind the leaders. He said after being hampered at the start, he rode his mount along for a brief distance in order to possibly cross DIAMOND KING to his inside and obtain a position on the rail. He said when DIAMOND KING was ridden along to hold its position inside ALCARI, he was content to allow ALCARI to maintain its position to the outside of that horse as he did not want ALCARI over-racing over 1400 Metres. He said when RELENTLESS ME and MIGHTY MAVERICK were showing early speed, he elected to obtain a trailing position behind MIGHTY MAVERICK as he felt it would be able to take ALCARI into the race. He added ALCARI was inclined to travel keenly in the middle stages and would not fully relax, however, he felt the horse was travelling well enough to be able to finish off the race. He said MIGHTY MAVERICK did not quicken as well as he anticipated in the early part of the Straight which resulted in him being held up for clear running behind that horse and inside VOYAGE KING. He said after having some difficulty obtaining clear running in the early part of the Straight, ALCARI came off the bridle and, in his opinion, was somewhat disappointing, however, given ALCARI was not able to obtain clear running in the early part of the Straight, it was difficult to gauge the horse’s performance. He said he did recommend to connections that they consider dropping the horse back in distance in the future as a stronger pace may assist it in finishing off the race better. A veterinary inspection of ALCARI immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. The performance of ALCARI, a favourite for today’s race, was considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, ALCARI will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of VOYAGE KING and SUN SUN FA FA immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ALCARI, MR WEALTH and RELENTLESS ME were sent for sampling.