04/11/2008  Happy Valley  Race 6

TRULLI was slow to begin. On jumping, BRILLIANT ONE was taken back. Making the turn at the 1000 Metres, FOREVER FRIENDSHIP became unbalanced when awkwardly placed inside the hindquarters of THE WORLD OF LOVE which got its head on the side and hung in. At the 900 Metres, AMO was checked away from the heels of TOY STORY (D Whyte) which at this time was steadied to obtain a position with cover behind THE WORLD OF LOVE. D Whyte was reprimanded and told to exercise greater care. Near the 800 Metres, NATIVE KID, VICTORY CONQUEROR and TOY STORY were hampered and carried wider by FOREVER FRIENDSHIP which shifted out after blundering when awkwardly placed close to the heels of KINDACROSS. When TOY STORY was hampered, AMO, which was following, was checked in consequence. Making the turn at the 600 metres, TRULLI and FOREVER FRIENDSHIP bumped. Throughout the race, ENCORE WIN travelled wide and without cover. When questioned, D Beadman (VICTORY CONQUEROR) said the horse has raced in a forward position in recent runs when jumping from a favourable barrier. He said VICTORY CONQUEROR does not possess natural gate speed but rather has to be made use of to take up a forward position. He said the intention from barrier 10 carrying top weight was to be positive out of the barriers in an endeavour to obtain a position around 4th or 5th. He said after going forward in the early stages, a number of runners held their positions to his inside making the turn at the 1000 Metres. He said on entering the Back Straight he looked to his inside and saw TOY STORY being steadied to obtain a position with cover. He said he then steadied VICTORY CONQUEROR in the belief that TOY STORY would shift to a one off position which would enable VICTORY CONQUEROR to race three wide but with cover. He said at the 800 Metres VICTORY CONQUEROR was hampered by TOY STORY and carried into a four wide position. He said as it was apparent to him that he would then be left racing wide and without cover, he steadied VICTORY CONQUEROR to a position behind TOY STORY which was further back than intended. He said VICTORY CONQUEROR travelled satisfactorily in the run and after being shifted to the outside in the Home Straight responded strongly to his riding. D Beadman was told his explanation would be reported. E Saint-Martin (NATIVE KID) said the intention had been to ride the horse from the outside barrier in a similar position to last start when it was just behind midfield as the horse had performed well when ridden in that manner. He said accordingly he took hold of NATIVE KID on jumping to allow horses drawn to his inside to go forward. He said making the turn at the 1000 Metres he commenced to shift across behind runners to obtain cover. He said after entering the Back Straight NATIVE KID commenced to over-race and was unbalanced in its action. He said NATIVE KID continued to over-race and passing the 800 Metres became unbalanced when being steadied away from the heels of VICTORY CONQUEROR. He said after this NATIVE KID travelled only fairly and was further back than anticipated at the rear of the field. He said in the Straight NATIVE KID failed to respond to his riding and was disappointing. He said in his opinion the horse's performance was due to the manner in which the race was run and that it did not relax for him when stepping up in distance to 1200 Metres tonight. NATIVE KID was sent for an official veterinary inspection. A veterinary inspection of NATIVE KID after the race did not show any significant findings. OCEAN WIDE and TRULLI were sent for sampling.