06/07/2022  Happy Valley  Race 7

ANGELS HUNTER was withdrawn on 5.7.22 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter FREE FOAL (L Ferraris). Before being allowed to race again, ANGELS HUNTER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. ICE LEGEND shifted out at the start and bumped SUNNY DELIGHT which became unbalanced. MY INTELLIGENT shifted out on jumping and hampered FREE FOAL. After this, despite being ridden along, FREE FOAL was slow to muster speed. OUR CREED began only fairly and then lost ground when badly crowded for room between FEARLESS FIRE and VITRALITE, both of which shifted ground. Then from a wide barrier, OUR CREED was shifted across behind runners to obtain a position closer to the rail. Also from wide barriers, FEARLESS FIRE and CHARIZARD were steadied in the early stages to obtain cover. Approaching the winning post on the first occasion, AMAZING NEWS was bumped by OUR CREED which was taken in by FREE FOAL. For some distance after passing the winning post on the first occasion, BIG TWO proved difficult to settle and got its head up passing the 1300 Metres when being restrained to obtain cover behind MY INTELLIGENT. ICE LEGEND, which was following BIG TWO, was awkwardly placed close to the heels of that horse in consequence. FEARLESS FIRE also raced wide and without cover from the 800 Metres. After the 800 Metres, FREE FOAL was left racing wide and without cover. Near the 450 Metres, BIG TWO (L Hewitson) improved into tight running between MY INTELLIGENT and EVER FORCE which resulted in EVER FORCE being bumped on the hindquarters by BIG TWO and shifting out, causing SUNNY DELIGHT to be hampered near the 400 Metres. L Hewitson was reprimanded and told to exercise due care when improving into tight running and to ensure that he does not place undue pressure on other runners in order to improve his position. Rounding the Home Turn, CHARIZARD raced tight outside AMAZING NEWS which shifted out to obtain clear running. Then passing the 300 Metres, AMAZING NEWS (M L Yeung) and CHARIZARD bumped and approaching the 150 Metres M L Yeung dropped his right rein. At the entrance to the Straight, OUR CREED was shifted to the inside of BIG TWO after being awkwardly placed behind that horse. ICE LEGEND had some difficulty obtaining clear running from near the 250 Metres until passing the 200 Metres. Then approaching the 50 Metres, ICE LEGEND got its head on the side and lay in towards the heels of MY INTELLIGENT, resulting in ICE LEGEND having to be corrected. After the race, Z Purton stated that SUNNY DELIGHT, which was backing up after running at the Happy Valley racemeeting last week, came under pressure prior to the Home Turn and then did not finish the race off in the Straight. A veterinary inspection of SUNNY DELIGHT immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of OUR CREED and VITRALITE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. BIG TWO and FREE FOAL were sent for sampling.