21/04/2021  Happy Valley  Race 9

HIGH RISE SOLDIER and ISLAND SHINE bumped on jumping. SHOUSON and SIMPLY FLUKE bumped at the start. From the outside barrier, YOO YOO KING was steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. After travelling a short distance, AURORA PEGASUS shifted out and bumped ARMOR STAR. AURORA PEGASUS and ARMOR STAR were then steadied in the early stages to obtain cover. When being steadied, AURORA PEGASUS was shifted out away from the heels of SHOUSON near the 1050 Metre when that horse was taken out by ISLAND SHINE which was awkwardly placed outside the heels of HIGH RISE SOLDIER. Passing the 700 Metres, ISLAND SHINE was awkwardly placed close to the heels of HIGH RISE SOLDIER. ISLAND SHINE then made the turn after the 600 Metres awkwardly and lay out towards the heels of HAPPY GOOD GUYS. SHOUSON, which was racing outside ISLAND SHINE, was hampered and taken wider in consequence and ARMOR STAR, which was racing outside SHOUSON, was inconvenienced. Near the 500 Metres, YOO YOO KING got its head on the side, lay in of its own accord and brushed the running rail which resulted in YOO YOO KING losing ground. In the early part of the Straight, ISLAND SHINE got its head on the side and lay in and after the 300 Metres was momentarily awkwardly placed behind SIMPLY FLUKE. After this, ISLAND SHINE continued to lay in. Approaching the 200 Metres, LIFELINE VISION and GOODLUCK GOODLUCK bumped. Passing the 200 Metres, A Hamelin (ISLAND SHINE) dropped his whip. As this was the 4th occasion in which A Hamelin was reported to have dropped his whip this season, he was fined the sum of $5,000. Close to the finishing line, AURORA PEGASUS was steadied away from the heels of BE READY and consequently was not ridden out all the way to the end of the race. After the race, K C Leung stated that after shifting across to race outside EVER FORCE in the early stages, GOODLUCK GOODLUCK would not relax and travelled too keenly. He said because of this GOODLUCK GOODLUCK was not able to finish off the race as well as it did last start when the horse had enjoyed an uncontested lead. A veterinary inspection of GOODLUCK GOODLUCK immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of ARMOR STAR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. EVER FORCE, HIGH RISE SOLDIER and SIMPLY FLUKE were sent for sampling.