07/05/2023  Shatin  Race 8

ENNEA FORTUNE, Standby Declared Starter, was withdrawn on 6.5.23 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (right front ligament injury). Before being allowed to race again, ENNEA FORTUNE will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. An inquiry was opened into the reason for LADY’S CHOICE being presented in the Parade Ring with the incorrect saddle cloth number. It was established that after weighing out, S De Sousa (TOGEPI) and A Hamelin (LADY’S CHOICE) had erroneously provided the incorrect saddle cloth numbers to their respective connections which resulted in LADY’S CHOICE being presented in the Parade Ring with the incorrect saddle cloth number and TOGEPI being presented in the Parade Ring late when connections identified that they had been provided with the incorrect saddle cloth number. Trainer C W Chang was fined the sum of $10,000 for a breach of Rule 96 for carelessness in the saddling of LADY’S CHOICE. S De Sousa and A Hamelin were fined the sum of $5,000 each for a breach of Stewards’ Instruction 28(6). As a result of the delay in LADY’S CHOICE having to be re-saddled and TOGEPI being presented in the Parade Ring late, the running of this event was required to be delayed by 5 minutes. COPARTNER PUDONG jumped very awkwardly and lost ground. In this incident, COPARTNER PUDONG lost its left front plate. GOLDEN BULL jumped only fairly and then was steadied when crowded by NATURAL GOLD which shifted in. DRAGON DELIGHT jumped awkwardly, shifted out and bumped GOOD NEWS. GOOD NEWS was then shifted across behind runners in the early stages. From a wide barrier, STURDY RUBY was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Near the 900 Metres, NATURAL GOLD commenced to race keenly and shifted out when being steadied away from LADY’S CHOICE, resulting in DAZZLING FELLOW being hampered. Near the 50 Metres, FORERUNNER was momentarily crowded between MASTER HERO and GOOD NEWS which shifted in. TOGEPI raced wide and without cover for the majority of the event. After the race, Z Purton (GOLDEN BULL) reported that his instructions were to ride his mount in a midfield position as GOLDEN BULL had performed well when ridden in this manner on 21 January 2023 when it finished second. He added whilst GOLDEN BULL travelled satisfactorily in the event, when placed under pressure in the Straight, it failed to respond and he had some concerns with the respiratory noise that GOLDEN BULL had made. A veterinary inspection of GOLDEN BULL immediately following the race found that horse to be a "roarer”. A veterinary inspection of FORERUNNER and NATURAL GOLD immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. GOLDEN BULL, ALL IS GOOD and LADY’S CHOICE were sent for sampling.