05/01/2020  Shatin  Race 7

DRAGON PIONEER, Standby Declared Starter, was withdrawn on 3.1.20 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right fore). Before being allowed to race again, DRAGON PIONEER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. MEGA HEART was checked on jumping when crowded for room between REGENCY BO BO which began awkwardly and RED DESERT which got its head on the side and shifted out away from MONTREAL which shifted out. In this incident, REGENCY BO BO became badly unbalanced after bumping heavily with MEGA HEART. FRUSTRATED shifted out at the start and inconvenienced CHAMPION PRIDE. From the outside barrier, SILVER FIG was steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. ENCORE BOY had difficulty obtaining clear running after the 300 Metres. Throughout the race, FRUSTRATED travelled wide and without cover. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of ELITE PATCH, C Y Ho stated that his mount stood quietly in the barriers, however, as the start was effected lifted its front feet off the ground and consequently was slow to begin. He said he rode his mount along for some distance along the Back Straight to make up lost ground and it was not until after the 800 Metres that ELITE PATCH was able to obtain a position behind REGENCY BO BO. He said making the turn after the 700 Metres ELITE PATCH was steadied away from the heels of REGENCY BO BO after that horse momentarily raced tight inside CHAMPION PRIDE. He said as he was of the view that ELITE PATCH finishes off its races best when brought to the outside, he followed SILVER FIG rounding the Home Turn and then immediately shifted to that horse’s outside at the entrance to the Straight. He said he placed ELITE PATCH under heavy pressure, however, the horse did not respond to his riding and did not make up any significant ground in the Straight. He added he had ridden ELITE PATCH in its track work since its last start success and, in his opinion, this work was good and accordingly he anticipated that ELITE PATCH would again perform well today. He said apart from being slow to begin and the horse’s rising in the weights due to its recent successes, he was not able to offer any further excuse for the horse’s poor performance. Mr K W Lui, the trainer of ELITE PATCH, was unable to offer any explanation for the disappointing performance of the horse. He said ELITE PATCH had done well since its last start and nothing had occurred since that horse had won which would indicate that it would not race well again today. A veterinary inspection of ELITE PATCH immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. The performance of ELITE PATCH, a winner of its two most recent starts and favourite for today’s race, was considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, ELITE PATCH will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. After the race, an endoscopic examination was conducted on SILVER FIG at the request of Trainer A T Millard. The Veterinary Surgeon reported that this examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse's trachea. Before being allowed to race again, SILVER FIG will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of MONTREAL immediately following the race found that horse to be lame in its right hind leg. Before being allowed to race again, MONTREAL will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of AQUILA immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ELITE PATCH, ENCORE BOY and MEGA HEART were sent for sampling.