19/03/2023  Shatin  Race 8

GALAXY WITNESS jumped awkwardly. BON’S A PEARLA jumped only fairly and then raced keenly in the early stages and near the 1800 Metres was steadied when racing tight to the inside of SUPER SUNNY SING. SUPER SUNNY SING shifted in at the start and bumped ENCOUNTERED. KEEFY and SWORD POINT bumped at the start. From wide barriers, ATULLIBIGEAL and FLAGSHIP WARRIOR were shifted across behind runners in the early stages. In the early stages, SUPER SUNNY SING raced wide and without cover and was inclined to race keenly. Then near the 1400 Metres, SUPER SUNNY SING got its head up when being shifted in to obtain cover behind GALAXY WITNESS. BEAUTYVERSE, which was also inclined to race keenly in the early stages, was steadied to avoid the heels of SUPER SUNNY SING at the same point. Near the 1400 Metres, BON’S A PEARLA got its head up when being steadied to obtain cover behind STRAIGHT ARRON. ENCOUNTERED lost its left hind plate near the 1000 Metres. Near the 1000 Metres, FLAGSHIP WARRIOR, which was racing keenly, was steadied when it improved to the inside of BEAUTYVERSE. Approaching the 300 Metres, TUCHEL was shifted to the inside of KEEFY to continue into clear running. Over the concluding stages, SWEET ENCOUNTER could not be ridden out when positioned close to KEEFY when that runner raced tight to the inside of BEAUTY ETERNAL which was taken in by VOYAGE BUBBLE. Prior to the declaration of weighed-in, the Stewards viewed the patrol films to ascertain if there were grounds for a protest/objection against VOYAGE BUBBLE being declared the winner on behalf of the 3rd placegetter, BEAUTY ETERNAL, following VOYAGE BUBBLE shifting in and bumping BEAUTY ETERNAL near the 50 Metres and BEAUTY ETERNAL racing tight to the inside of VOYAGE BUBBLE over the concluding stages. When no protest/objection was lodged by the connections and the Stewards were satisfied that there were not sufficient grounds, weighed-in was declared on the numbers semaphored by the Judge. A Badel reported that in order to ensure that VOYAGE BUBBLE ran a strong 2000 Metres, he was instructed to ride his mount conservatively from its outside barrier. Whilst the Stewards were satisfied that the riding of H Bowman (SWORD POINT), 6th placegetter, over the concluding stages did not affect the horse’s finishing position, he was nonetheless reminded of his obligation to ensure that he fully rides his mounts out to the finish of the race. When questioned, H Bowman stated that after following the favourite BEAUTY ETERNAL into the Home Straight, between the 400 Metres and the 300 Metres, he had some difficulty obtaining clear running when BEAUTY ETERNAL did not quicken as he had expected. He added that as he was placed inside the heels of VOYAGE BUBBLE during that section of the race, he was unable to shift out to obtain clear running and therefore was obliged to remain racing behind BEAUTY ETERNAL. He further added however once he was able to commence riding SWORD POINT along near the 300 Metres, his mount finished the race off in a one-paced manner to the line. After the race, C Y Ho (SUPER SUNNY SING) reported that whilst his mount was inclined to race keenly in the moderately run event, he did not believe this was the reason for the disappointing performance of SUPER SUNNY SING. He added that from the 600 Metres SUPER SUNNY SING was under pressure and did not respond to his riding from that point and finished the race off only fairly. A veterinary inspection of SUPER SUNNY SING immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of ATULLIBIGEAL immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. BEAUTY ETERNAL, VOYAGE BUBBLE and TUCHEL were sent for sampling.