11/09/2022  Shatin  Race 3

SON PAK FU was crowded for room on jumping between MELBOURNE HALL and UNIVERSAL CROWN, both of which shifted ground. VICTOR THE WINNER began awkwardly, shifted out and bumped GALLANT WAKING which was then crowded for room inside SUCCESS FIGHTER. ONE FOR ALL began only fairly and then was crowded for room between COUNTRY TREASURE and THE HULK which was taken out by BIRDSVILLE which shifted ground after being bumped by BLISSFUL LIFE. In this incident, COUNTRY TREASURE became unbalanced when bumped by ONE FOR ALL. From wide barriers, THE HULK, SUPER RED DRAGON and HAPPY HERO were steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. After travelling a short distance, MIGHTY STAR shifted in and bumped UNIVERSAL CROWN which became unbalanced. Passing the 1000 Metres, MELBOURNE HALL raced tight inside SON PAK FU which got its head on the side and lay in away from VICTOR THE WINNER. Passing the 800 Metres, BLISSFUL LIFE commenced to over-race and got its head up when being steadied away from the heels of GALLANT WAKING. BIRDSVILLE, which was following, also got its head up when being checked away from the heels of BLISSFUL LIFE in consequence. Passing the 700 Metres, GALLANT WAKING shifted out away from the heels of SON PAK FU and after this travelled wide and without cover. Then passing the 550 Metres, GALLANT WAKING raced tight outside SON PAK FU which shifted to the outside of SUCCESS FIGHTER. Approaching the 200 Metres, SON PAK FU lay in and was awkwardly placed outside the heels of SUCCESS FIGHTER. When questioned, L Currie stated that it was intended for COUNTRY TREASURE to be ridden in a forward position today and either lead the race or race outside the leader. He said after being fractious in the barriers COUNTRY TREASURE became unbalanced when bumped shortly after the start and did not show as much early speed as was anticipated. He said it felt as though he would have had to make considerable use of COUNTRY TREASURE to obtain a forward position and given the manner in which the horse was travelling in the early stages, it would not have sufficient speed to be able to cross runners to its inside which would likely have left COUNTRY TREASURE racing wide. He added that when racing further back in the field than had been intended, COUNTRY TREASURE did not travel strongly at any stage of the race and then in the Straight did not finish the race off and was disappointing. A veterinary inspection of COUNTRY TREASURE immediately following the race found that horse to have sustained a minor injury to the mouth with the presence of blood. A veterinary inspection of BIRDSVILLE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. After the race, it was noted that SUPER RED DRAGON was displaying signs of heat stress. Before being allowed to race again, SUPER RED DRAGON will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. VICTOR THE WINNER and THE HULK were sent for sampling.