21/05/2023  Shatin  Race 2

At declaration time, Apprentice Y L Chung was declared as the rider of both TEAM SPIRIT and CIRCUIT SEVEN. It was established that Apprentice Chung had a firm commitment to ride TEAM SPIRIT. As such, the Stewards permitted M F Poon to be substituted as the rider of CIRCUIT SEVEN. For this declaration error, Trainer A S Cruz was fined $2,000. GO GO GO jumped only fairly. THE FINAL WORD was slow to begin. HONG KONG HALL jumped only fairly and then was bumped by SPARKLING DOLPHIN which shifted out. SAME TO YOU blundered on jumping. SPARKLING KNIGHT shifted in at the start and made contact with REGENCY HAPPY STAR. CIRCUIT SEVEN shifted out on jumping and bumped TEAM SPIRIT. CIRCUIT SEVEN lost its right front plate at the 700 Metres. Near the 700 Metres, AFFIRM raced tight between SPARKLING KNIGHT and SPARKLING DOLPHIN which shifted out despite the efforts of its rider. As a result, SPARKLING KNIGHT shifted out and away from AFFIRM and became awkwardly placed close to the heels of CIRCUIT SEVEN. Near the 500 Metres, AFFIRM became unbalanced and was steadied when crowded between CIRCUIT SEVEN and SPARKLING DOLPHIN (H T Mo) which shifted out despite the efforts of its rider when inclined to lay out and away from DREAM WINNER. The Stewards were satisfied that Jockey Mo had taken the appropriate action in endeavouring to correct his mount in this incident. Near the 200 Metres, THE FINAL WORD, which was inclined to race greenly when placed under pressure in the Straight, was shifted to the outside of SPARKLING DOLPHIN to continue into clear running. As a result SAME TO YOU was steadied away from the heels of THE FINAL WORD. Then over the final 50 Metres, THE FINAL WORD could not be ridden out to the finish of the race when positioned close to CIRCUIT SEVEN. Near the 150 Metres, GO GO GO became held up behind AFFIRM and as a result could not be ridden out to the finish of the race. Over the concluding stages, SPARKLING KNIGHT raced tight to the outside of AFFIRM. After the race, Z Purton (HONG KONG HALL) reported that, in his opinion, his mount would be better suited by a step-back up in distance to 1200 Metres. A veterinary inspection of HONG KONG HALL immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of SPARKLING DOLPHIN immediately following the race which included an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse’s trachea. Before being allowed to race again, SPARKLING DOLPHIN will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of AFFIRM immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. HONG KONG HALL, DREAM WINNER and AMAZING ROCKY were sent for sampling.