20/03/2022  Shatin  Race 5

After being loaded into the barriers, COPARTNER ELITES became fractious, reared and momentarily rested its left front leg on the barrier partition. COPARTNER ELITES was removed from the barriers and examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was suitable to race. Before being allowed to race again, COPARTNER ELITES will be required to perform satisfactorily in a stalls test. ABOVE began awkwardly and then from a wide barrier was steadied and shifted across behind runners. FIVE G PATCH shifted out at the start and bumped the hindquarters of BLASTOISE which also shifted in. This resulted in FIVE G PATCH becoming unbalanced, shifting in and bumping ENSURED which also began awkwardly and shifted out on jumping. After this, ENSURED and FIVE G PATCH were shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. After passing the winning post on the first occasion, ABOVE was awkwardly placed close to the heels of COPARTNER ELITES when being shifted across behind that horse. Also after passing the winning post on the first occasion, FIVE G PATCH raced tight outside ENSURED which shifted out away from the heels of COPARTNER ELITES. RISE BRETHREN was held up for clear running in the early part of the Straight. CHAMPION PAL also had some difficulty obtaining clear running passing the 400 Metres. After the 300 Metres, FLYING TURBO, which was having some difficulty obtaining clear running, bumped the hindquarters of BLASTOISE when improving into tight running between that horse and ENZEMBLE. When questioned regarding the performance of BOOM ALLIANCE, J Moreira stated that after COPARTNER ELITES became fractious in the adjoining stall, BOOM ALLIANCE tensed up and because of this did not begin as well as had been hoped. He said because of this he attempted to obtain a position with cover in about midfield rather than pursuing a forward position as had been intended. He said due to the makeup of the field in the early stages, BOOM ALLIANCE was not able to obtain cover and therefore passing the winning post on the first occasion he rode his mount along to improve its position in the hope of being able to cross SUPERBELLA and obtain a position with cover behind HAPPY ANGEL. He said when SUPERBELLA maintained its position, this resulted in BOOM ALLIANCE racing three wide and without cover. He said when racing without cover, BOOM ALLIANCE travelled keenly in the middle stages and would not relax for him. He added that BOOM ALLIANCE came under heavy pressure near the 500 Metres and then weakened out of the race in the Home Straight. He said whilst BOOM ALLIANCE finished at the rear of the field, he was of the opinion that there were some circumstances associated with the horse’s failure to finish the race off today. A veterinary inspection of BOOM ALLIANCE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. The performance of BOOM ALLIANCE, a favoured runner for today’s race and which finished last, was considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, BOOM ALLIANCE will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of FIVE G PATCH and immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of ENSURED immediately following the race which included an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of mucus in the horse’s trachea. RISE BRETHREN and COPARTNER ELITES were sent for sampling.