08/04/2021  Happy Valley  Race 4

The Stewards tonight inquired into the circumstances regarding the inadvertent treatment of HAPPY LAND which was withdrawn from this race this morning by order of the Stewards. Evidence was taken from Mr C S Shum, the trainer of HAPPY LAND, Mr K F Lau and Mr W Y Yan, work riders allocated to Mr Shum’s stable. It was ascertained that HAPPY LAND was inadvertently treated with an anti-ulcer medication and as that treatment was inside the recommended withdrawal period for the medication, the Stewards acceded to a request from Mr Shum for the horse to be withdrawn. It was subsequently ascertained that Mr Lau and Mr Yan inadvertently treated HAPPY LAND despite there being a number of measures in place to ensure that the horse was not treated given that it had been declared to race. Mr Shum pleaded guilty to a breach of Rule 50(2) in that as the person responsible for all matters pertaining to the running of his stable including the work of the stable staff allocated to him, he failed to ensure that HAPPY LAND was not treated in accordance with the Rules of Racing. After considering all the circumstances of this case, Mr Shum was fined the sum of $20,000. Mr Lau and Mr Yan were advised that a full report on the incident would be forwarded to the Stables Department. HEART CONQUERED shifted out at the start and bumped MOMENTUM GALAXY. NORDIC WELLSTAR shifted in on jumping and bumped DIVINE REGULUS, resulting in both horses becoming unbalanced and DIVINE REGULUS shifting out, causing NORDIC WELLSTAR to be taken out towards the heels of LARSON. After the 600 Metres, SAUL’S SPECIAL was steadied away from the heels of KEEP YOU WARM which, after shifting in, was then taken in further by HARMONY AND RICH (H N Wong) which shifted in when not properly clear. H N Wong was reprimanded and told to ensure that he is properly clear when shifting ground in similar circumstances. Near the 550 Metres, LARSON was left racing wide and without cover. Rounding the Home Turn, KEEP YOU WARM was bumped on the hindquarters by FABULOUS EIGHT which shifted out to obtain clear running. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of HARMONY AND RICH, H N Wong stated that he had to make a lot of use of the horse in the early stages to cross KEEP YOU WARM to his inside which was being hard ridden to obtain a forward position. He said it was not until after the 600 Metres that he was able to cross that horse and attempt to relax HARMONY AND RICH in the lead. He said he rode HARMONY AND RICH quietly rounding the Home Turn given the amount of work that the horse had done in the early stages and after placing HARMONY AND RICH under pressure shortly after entering the Straight, the horse gave him only a limited response before weakening over the latter stages. He added the amount of use that he had to make of HARMONY AND RICH, together with the horse carrying top weight, in his opinion, explained its failure to finish off the race over the concluding stages. A veterinary inspection of HARMONY AND RICH immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. After the race, Z Purton said that SAUL’S SPECIAL travelled only fairly during the race and after being shifted to the outside of runners into clear running on straightening then finished off the race only fairly. A veterinary inspection of SAUL’S SPECIAL immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. SAUL’S SPECIAL, KEEP YOU WARM and MOMENTUM GALAXY were sent for sampling.