23/10/2019  Happy Valley  Race 3

At declaration time, H T Mo was declared as the rider of both CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE and MULTIMAX. It was established that H T Mo had a firm commitment to ride CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE. As such, the Stewards permitted H N Wong to be substituted as the rider of MULTIMAX. For this declaration error, H T Mo was fined $2,000. SOCKET ELITE shifted out at the start and bumped the hindquarters of MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE which became unbalanced. MULTIMAX began awkwardly. Shortly after the start, AMAZING SATCHMO shifted in and bumped THE FULL BLOOM. CHIU CHOW KID was steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners. Also from the outside barriers, SPEEDY WALLY and PLAY WISE were steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. After travelling a short distance, ENJOY LIFE was crowded for room between CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE and SOCKET ELITE which shifted in after becoming unbalanced as a result of making contact with MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE. Near the 1000 Metres, THOU SHALL SING became badly unbalanced of its own accord after shifting out towards the heels of MULTIMAX which was racing to the outside of CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE. When THOU SHALL SING lost ground, THE FULL BLOOM was checked away from the heels of that horse with AMAZING SATCHMO becoming awkwardly placed behind THE FULL BLOOM and losing ground as a consequence. Passing the 700 Metres, RIGHT HONOURABLE was shifted out away from the heels of SOCKET ELITE which was shifted to the outside of MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE. When RIGHT HONOURABLE shifted out, PLAY WISE was taken wider. Near the 650 Metres, SOCKET ELITE was steadied when unable to improve between SPEEDY WALLY and MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE which shifted to the outside of MULTIMAX. Approaching the 600 Metres, MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE improved into tight running between MULTIMAX and SPEEDY WALLY (Z Purton) which was improving to the outside of MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE. This resulted in MULTIMAX, MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE, which was racing marginally behind that horse, and SPEEDY WALLY racing tight near the 600 Metres. Then making the turn just passing the 600 Metres, THOU SHALL SING got its head on the side and shifted out marginally to race tight inside the hindquarters of MULTIMAX. MULTIMAX then became unbalanced after being contacted on the hindquarters by MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE which continued to race tight between that horse and SPEEDY WALLY. As a result of MULTIMAX becoming unbalanced and shifting in and THOU SHALL SING laying out towards the heels of MULTIMAX, THOU SHALL SING was severely checked near the 550 Metres and lost a considerable amount of ground. When THOU SHALL SING was checked, THE FULL BLOOM was severely checked away from the heels of that horse and AMAZING SATCHMO, which was racing to the outside of THOU SHALL SING, was checked when crowded for room between that horse and SOCKET ELITE. Although the incident was one of significance, the Stewards found that there was no careless riding attributable to any rider such that a charge of careless riding should be issued. The Stewards found that in the initial stages THOU SHALL SING had contributed to the incident by shifting out towards the heels of MULTIMAX and that the movement inwards by that horse as a result of being brushed by MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE had created the incident. Nonetheless Z Purton was told that he must ensure that in similar circumstances runners to his inside have comfortable racing room. Near the 450 Metres, MULTIMAX got its head on the side and lay out towards the heels of MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE when giving ground. In the Straight, SPEEDY WALLY got its head on the side and lay in under pressure and near the 50 Metres was momentarily awkwardly placed behind RIGHT HONOURABLE which shifted out away from ENJOY LIFE. In this incident, AMAZING SATCHMO raced tight to the outside of SPEEDY WALLY and consequently was not able to be fully tested over the concluding stages. When questioned regarding the performance of MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE, J Moreira stated that it was intended for MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE to be ridden in about midfield as the horse was stepping up to 1650 Metres for the first time tonight. He said MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE began very well and he believed that he would have to restrain the horse heavily to obtain a trailing position in midfield. He said he therefore elected to allow MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE to obtain a forward position behind the leaders which was more prominent than had been intended. He said when the tempo of the race was only fair in the early and middle stages MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE raced too keenly and would not relax. He said this resulted in MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE racing close to the heels of MULTIMAX passing the 1100 Metres. He added he had to ride MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE along sooner than what he had hoped when the tempo of the race increased noticeably near the 650 Metres. He added MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE was disappointing in the manner in which it weakened in the Straight and he thought that due to the horse not relaxing in the first half of the race, MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE was then not able to close off at its first start at the distance. A veterinary inspection of MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. When questioned regarding the improved performance of RIGHT HONOURABLE tonight as compared to its most recent start, Trainer R Gibson stated that at its last start he was of the opinion that the race lacked speed and therefore, from the outside barrier, he asked the rider that night to obtain a more forward position to take advantage of the anticipated lack of speed. He said in the early stages RIGHT HONOURABLE was unable to clear runners to its inside as there were a number of horses which also went forward in the race and this resulted in RIGHT HONOURABLE having to race very wide making the turn near the 1300 Metres. N Callan, the rider of RIGHT HONOURABLE on that occasion, confirmed that he was asked to take up a more forward position on the horse than is usual due to the anticipated lack of speed. He said however that when a number of other runners also went forward which were better drawn than RIGHT HONOURABLE, this resulted in his mount having to race wide until being able to shift in to race one horse away from the rail after the 1200 Metres. Mr Gibson stated that in that race there ultimately proved to be more pace than had been foreseen and because of RIGHT HONOURABLE having to be made use of to go forward, the horse was then not able to finish off the race. He added in tonight’s race when again drawn wide, he instructed the rider to ride the horse more conservatively as he felt that, given the horse’s disappointing last start, this would provide RIGHT HONOURABLE the best opportunity to finish off the race. He said that the circumstance of its last race start was the reason for the improved performance of the horse tonight. A veterinary inspection of THOU SHALL SING immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. MISCHIEVOUS SUNDAE, RIGHT HONOURABLE and ENJOY LIFE were sent for sampling.