15/04/2020  Happy Valley  Race 6

SHINING GEM was withdrawn on 14.4.20 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter BIG BANG BONG (M L Yeung). Before being allowed to race again, SHINING GEM will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. VICTORY IN HAND shifted in abruptly at the start and bumped CHARIZARD. CHIKORITA began only fairly and then shortly after the start was shifted across behind runners. CALIFORNIADEEPSHOT began only fairly and then, despite being ridden along for some distance in the early stages, was slow to muster speed. From the outside barriers, BIG BANG BONG and WHISKEY NEAT were steadied in the early stages to obtain cover. Making the turn near the 1050 Metres, HOME MADE (M F Poon) was checked after shifting out across the heels of WIND N GRASS. M F Poon reported that after this incident HOME MADE lay out during the race. WHISKEY NEAT travelled wide and without cover until near the 600 Metres. Making the turn after the 600 Metres, SHOUSON raced tight inside VERY RICH MAN which got its head on the side and lay in, requiring its rider to direct VERY RICH MAN out on a number of occasions to relieve the tightening to SHOUSON. After the 300 Metres, VERY RICH MAN was shifted out away from the heels of SHOUSON (Z Purton) which shifted out to obtain clear running to the outside of VICTORY IN HAND. Z Purton was advised to exercise more care when shifting ground in similar circumstances. A veterinary inspection of MOST BEAUTIFUL immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. BEAUTY SPARK and CALIFORNIADEEPSHOT were sent for sampling.