24/10/2021  Shatin  Race 3

On arrival at the Start, it was noted that UNIVERSAL CROWN had blood in its mouth. UNIVERSAL CROWN was examined by the Veterinary Officer and passed suitable to race. REGENCY GEM was slow to begin. As the start was effected, SOCCER MASTER lifted its front feet off the ground and got its head behind the barrier partition which resulted in SOCCER MASTER beginning very awkwardly and losing ground. Before being allowed to race again, SOCCER MASTER will be required to perform satisfactorily in a stalls test. From wide barriers, BIG BANG BONG and EVEN KEEL were shifted across behind runners in the early stages. LITTLE PLAYER and BRAVE POWER were both steadied in the early stages to obtain a position closer to the rail. After the 800 Metres, LITTLE PLAYER travelled keenly and was awkwardly placed behind SUPER FLAMES. Passing the 600 Metres, EVEN KEEL was bumped and taken wider by REGENCY GEM which attempted to improve to the outside of SOCCER MASTER. Passing the 650 Metres, SOCCER MASTER became unbalanced when attempting to improve between VICTORIOUS LEADER and BRAVE POWER where there was not quite enough room. In this incident, SOCCER MASTER bumped BRAVE POWER. REGENCY GEM had some difficulty obtaining clear running passing the 400 Metres. At the 100 Metres, A Badel (REGENCY GEM) dropped his whip. Throughout the race, UNIVERSAL CROWN travelled wide and without cover. After the race, M Chadwick was not able to offer any explanation for the disappointing performance of SOCCER MASTER other than the horse was required to race at the rear of the field as a result of missing the start. He said after the incident on jumping, SOCCER MASTER did not travel strongly at any stage of the race and then did not finish off the race. A veterinary inspection of SOCCER MASTER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. SO AWESOME and ZACIAN were sent for sampling.