02/03/2019  Shatin  Race 6

At declaration time, Z Purton was declared as the rider of SPEEDY KING. It was established that Z Purton had been inadvertently declared as the rider of SPEEDY KING when in fact M F Poon had been engaged to ride that horse. For this declaration error, Trainer P F Yiu was fined $2,000. From a wide barrier, TEAM FORTUNE was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Despite being hard ridden for some distance in the early stages, STRATHCLYDE failed to muster speed. Near the 250 Metres, AMAZING STAR momentarily raced tight inside the heels of WINNING SUPREME which shifted in marginally. Throughout the race, PHANTOM FALCON travelled wide and without cover. When questioned regarding the performance of GAMEPLAYER EMPEROR, S de Sousa stated that consideration had been given to stepping the horse up in distance for today’s race, however, after GAMEPLAYER EMPEROR was successful at its last start over the course and distance, it was felt more appropriate for the horse to again race in those circumstances. He said he had to make a lot of use of GAMEPLAYER EMPEROR in the early stages to obtain as forward a position as possible and GAMEPLAYER EMPEROR appeared to him to be struggling with the rise in weight as a result of its last start success. He said GAMEPLAYER EMPEROR was not able to quicken as it did last start when it carried a lighter weight and therefore he recommended to connections that they consider stepping the horse up in distance at its future starts which will allow it to gather momentum to assist it given that it is carrying higher weights. A veterinary inspection of GAMEPLAYER EMPEROR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of STRATHCLYDE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. AMAZING STAR, PHANTOM FALCON and TEAM FORTUNE were sent for sampling. <4/3/2019 Additional Veterinary Report>The Veterinary Surgeon reported that PHANTOM FALCON was lame in its right front leg on the morning after racing. Before being allowed to race again, PHANTOM FALCON will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.