04/06/2023  Shatin  Race 7

Shortly after the start, IMA SINGLE MAN raced tight to the inside of COURIER WONDER which was inclined to lay in despite the efforts of its rider to correct his mount. After the 900 Metres, COURIER WONDER lay in and brushed the running rail. MASTER EIGHT lay out in the middle stages and near the 600 Metres was steadied away from the heels of LUCKY SWEYNESSE. Near the 250 Metres, MASTER EIGHT, which was commencing to give ground, was hampered when momentarily crowded between CORDYCEPS SIX and COURIER WONDER, both of which shifted ground slightly. Over the concluding stages, COURIER WONDER lay in and away from CORDYCEPS SIX when racing tight to the inside of that runner. When questioned regarding his riding of SIGHT SUCCESS, H Bowman stated that prior to the event as connections had indicated in their opinion there would be good early pace and his mount had a tendency of not jumping cleanly at its recent starts, he was instructed to make sure SIGHT SUCCESS commenced well and endeavour to find a position behind the lead. He added that after SIGHT SUCCESS commenced well, he allowed his mount to improve forward and in the early stages he was obliged to continue forward to cross LUCKY SWEYNESSE rather than being caught wide. He said as a result passing the 900 Metres he improved into the lead where his mount obtained a narrow margin over VICTOR THE WINNER. He said from the 800 Metres whilst he realized the pace of the event was genuine, he was reluctant to come back to race behind VICTOR THE WINNER as he had made use of his mount in the early stages and this would have resulted in SIGHT SUCCESS losing momentum and the advantage he had obtained on VICTOR THE WINNER. He further stated that as a result SIGHT SUCCESS maintained its half a length margin over VICTOR THE WINNER through the middle stages. After considering his explanations, the Stewards found the tactics adopted by H Bowman were reasonable in the circumstances. LUCKY SWEYNESSE and VICTOR THE WINNER were sent for sampling.