08/03/2020  Shatin  Race 6

POWER KING was withdrawn on 7.3.20 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left hind) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter HOME WIN (M F Poon). Before being allowed to race again, POWER KING will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. CAMFORD MAGIC shifted in at the start and bumped THE RUNNER. FOCUS and REGENCY MASTER bumped at the start. JOY MASTER was slow to begin. V CHEVALIERS and CITY LEGEND were crowded for room on jumping between MOON PEAKS and HEZA BEAUTY which shifted in. After this incident, V CHEVALIERS and CITY LEGEND were steadied to obtain cover from wide barriers. HOME WIN was also steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners. When being steadied to obtain cover from the outside barrier, WONDERFUL TIMES was bumped by HEZA BEAUTY which shifted out shortly after the start. After this, WONDERFUL TIMES continued to be steadied to obtain cover and then in the Straight gave ground and finished tailed out. A veterinary inspection of WONDERFUL TIMES immediately following the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of mucus in the horse’s trachea. The performance of WONDERFUL TIMES was considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, WONDERFUL TIMES will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. Approaching the 1200 Metres, V CHEVALIERS travelled keenly and was steadied away from the heels of CITY LEGEND. CITY LEGEND lost its left front plate at the 1200 Metres. IRON KING made the turn near the 900 Metres awkwardly after shifting out away from the heels of THE RUNNER which shifted away from the rail to race outside MOON PEAKS. Then near the 800 Metres, IRON KING was awkwardly placed close to the heels of THE RUNNER. Passing the 500 Metres, V CHEVALIERS was shifted out away from the heels of WONDERFUL TIMES. Approaching the 150 Metres, HEZA BEAUTY was bumped by THE RUNNER (Apprentice K H Chan) which shifted out under pressure. In this incident, THE RUNNER became unbalanced due to contact with HEZA BEAUTY. Apprentice Chan was reprimanded and told that he would be expected to stop riding and straighten his mount prior to making contact with other runners in similar circumstances. When questioned, G van Niekerk stated that he was instructed to take up a forward position if HEZA BEAUTY began well. He said when the blindfold was removed from HEZA BEAUTY, his mount lunged forward as the gates opened and then began very awkwardly, resulting in him becoming unbalanced. He said when HEZA BEAUTY began awkwardly, it shifted in abruptly and bumped CITY LEGEND which caused HEZA BEAUTY to become unbalanced and then to shift out and made heavy contact with WONDERFUL TIMES which resulted in HEZA BEAUTY becoming further unbalanced. He said because of these incidents he believed he would have had to make a lot of use of HEZA BEAUTY in an attempt to follow MOON PEAKS across into a forward position and for this reason he attempted to find cover on HEZA BEAUTY. He said however that HEZA BEAUTY was required to race three wide and after the 1100 Metres was left racing without cover. He said when the pace of the race steadied in the middle stages, he allowed HEZA BEAUTY to improve its position, however, the horse continued to race three wide and without cover outside the lead. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that DESTIN had been galloped on on the outside of its left hind heel. A veterinary inspection of FOCUS immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. FANTASTIC SHOW and IRON KING were sent for sampling.