10/02/2021  Happy Valley  Race 9

CARROLL STREET was withdrawn on 8.2.21 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (respiratory infection) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter WATER DIVINER. Before being allowed to race again, CARROLL STREET will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. CIRCUIT SEVEN began awkwardly and lost ground. BEAUTY KOBE and SPARKLING DRAGON bumped on jumping. EXCELLENT CHARIOT shifted out at the start and bumped GREEN REIGN. From the outside barriers, WATER DIVINER, EXCELLENT CHARIOT, GREEN REIGN and LOVING A BOOM were all shifted across behind runners in the early stages to obtain cover. Near the 650 Metres, HARMONY N HOME was awkwardly placed behind SPARKLING DRAGON. Also near the 650 Metres, TORNADO TWIST was left racing wide and without cover. Passing the 200 Metres, SPARKLING DRAGON and TORNADO TWIST raced tight. When questioned regarding his riding of BEAUTY KOBE after the 500 Metres, V Borges stated that his mount got its head on the side and lay away from KA YING MASTER which created the gap between that horse and BEAUTY KOBE. He said he had a number of looks to his inside passing the 450 Metres to ensure that BEAUTY KOBE shifting out did not allow room for another runner to commence improving between his mount and KA YING MASTER as he received a call at this stage. He said after establishing that no runner was attempting to improve between KA YING MASTER and BEAUTY KOBE, he continued to ride his mount along, however, BEAUTY KOBE continued to lay out and shifted out rounding the Home Turn which allowed the opportunity for EQUALETTA BLITZ to shift out from behind KA YING MASTER and inside BEAUTY KOBE. V Borges was told that whilst the Stewards accepted that BEAUTY KOBE was laying out after the 500 Metres despite his efforts to prevent his horse from doing so, nonetheless he was warned against the practice of looking around in races. After the race, K Teetan reported that SPARKLING DRAGON did not finish off the race and, in his opinion, felt "flat”. A veterinary inspection of SPARKLING DRAGON immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of TORNADO TWIST and BEAUTY KOBE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. EQUALETTA BLITZ and KA YING MASTER were sent for sampling.