08/07/2015  Happy Valley  Race 8

AMAZINGLY was slow to begin. From the outside barriers, ALBICELESTE and BUDDY BUDDIES were shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Approaching the 1300 Metres, STRONG FOUNDATION and MEDALLIST raced tight inside SEMPITERNAL which was awkwardly placed inside the heels of GREAT CHARM. Near the 950 Metres, AMAZINGLY got its head up when awkwardly placed close to the heels of STRONG FOUNDATION. ALBICELESTE, which was following, was hampered in consequence. Also near the 950 Metres, ROYAL PARTNER was steadied away from the heels of MEDALLIST which was being steadied to allow SEMPITERNAL to cross. INDUSTRIALIST WAY, which was following, was hampered in consequence. For some distance after this, INDUSTRIALIST WAY continued to be awkwardly placed behind ROYAL PARTNER which continued to race close to the heels of MEDALLIST. After the 900 Metres, when left racing without cover, WILLIE INVICTUS raced keenly. JOLLY VICTOR lost its left front plate approaching the 800 Metres. Passing the 500 Metres, MEDALLIST was awkwardly placed inside JOLLY VICTOR which lay in. When questioned regarding his riding of SEMPITERNAL, N Rawiller stated that he had been instructed to lead if possible as SEMPITERNAL had raced well when ridden in this manner in the past and there did not appear to be any other established leaders in the race. He said in accordance with his instructions he rode SEMPITERNAL along in the early stages, however, the horse did not show the early speed that he expected and shortly after the start commenced to hang in. He said he continued to ride his mount along, however, the more he rode the horse, the more it was inclined to hang in. He said the pace of the race in the early stages was much stronger than anticipated and having in mind SEMPITERNAL did not show natural early speed and was hanging in, he did not believe it was reasonable, given the tempo of the race, to continue riding his mount along. He said it was also pertinent that STRONG FOUNDATION and MEDALLIST were being ridden along to maintain their positions inside SEMPITERNAL. He said when GREAT CHARM improved its way around SEMPITERNAL passing the winning post on the first occasion, this ensured that the tempo of the race continued to be strong and he felt it was not in the best interests of the horse for him to continue to ride it along. He added he anticipated that once GREAT CHARM was able to lead, the tempo of the race would slacken which it did after the 1200 Metres. He said when this occurred he allowed SEMPITERNAL to improve its way forward of MEDALLIST and he was able to shift SEMPITERNAL to race outside GREAT CHARM after the 1000 Metres. He said after obtaining this position SEMPITERNAL travelled well and he was content to remain racing outside GREAT CHARM. He said however that at the 700 Metres FLYING CHAPARRAL improved around SEMPITERNAL and whilst he did give consideration to improving at this time to prevent that horse from crossing into the lead, he did not believe that this would be in the best interests of SEMPITERNAL given that had occurred early in the race. He added he did not believe that commencing his finishing run from the 700 Metres would allow SEMPITERNAL the opportunity to finish off the race having in mind the fast early sectionals of the race. He said for this reason he allowed FLYING CHAPARRAL to continue forward of SEMPITERNAL and permitted WILLIE INVICTUS to improve around his horse near the 500 Metres. He said he commenced to ride his mount along when the pace of the race increased approaching the 400 Metres and SEMPITERNAL, given the circumstances of the race, finished off the race quite well. After having considered the sectionals of the race in particular from the start until the 1200 Metres and after having considered N Rawiller’s explanation, the Stewards took no further action. After the race, T H So (INDUSTRIALIST WAY) said his mount did not travel well throughout the race and when the pace increased after the 500 Metres, INDUSTRIALIST WAY was left flat-footed and then did not finish off the race. A veterinary inspection of INDUSTRIALIST WAY immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of MEDALLIST and ALBICELESTE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ROYAL PARTNER, FLYING CHAPARRAL and STRONG FOUNDATION were sent for sampling. <9/7/2015 Additional Veterinary Report>The Clinical Veterinary Surgeon reported that JOLLY VICTOR had sustained a right hind fetlock injury on the morning after racing. Before being allowed to race again, JOLLY VICTOR will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.