05/04/2009  Shatin  Race 3

At declaration time, M Du Plessis was declared as the rider of both TOWKAY FLYER and NATIONAL GLORY. It was established that M Du Plessis had a firm commitment to ride TOWKAY FLYER. As such, the Stewards permitted J Lloyd to be substituted as the rider of NATIONAL GLORY. Mr J Size, trainer of NATIONAL GLORY, was fined $2,000 for this error. As J Winks, the declared rider of TREASURE RAIDERS, was overweight, permission was given for C W Wong to be substituted. J Winks was fined $5,000 for accepting this ride when overweight [Rule 88(5)]. SUPER FORTUNE was slow to begin. LUCKY PRINCE was slow into stride. At the 300 Metres, SUPER FORTUNE and EXTRA SPECIAL were hampered and carried in when DR UNION (Y T Cheng) got its head on the side and shifted in abruptly. As Y T Cheng stopped riding and straightened his mount as soon as could be expected, no action was taken. Also at the 300 Metres, NATIONAL GLORY, which was commencing to close the race off strongly, was steadied away from the heels of KING OF HEARTS. J Lloyd, the rider of the 5th placegetter, was reminded of his responsibility to ride his mounts out at least hands and heels to the end of the race where circumstances permit. When questioned regarding the poor performance of EXTRA SPECIAL, D Whyte said his mount was fractious in the stalls, began awkwardly and as a consequence lost a considerable amount of ground. He said after this EXTRA SPECIAL travelled only fairly throughout the run. He said EXTRA SPECIAL was hampered at the 300 Metres, however, this was of little consequence to the horse. He said after this EXTRA SPECIAL disappointed him in the manner in which it closed the race off. He said he was not able to offer any explanation for the performance of the horse. KARBRIDGE and EXTRA SPECIAL were sent for an official veterinary inspection. A veterinary inspection of KARBRIDGE and EXTRA SPECIAL after the race did not show any significant findings. TOP NEWS and WINDICATOR RETURNS were sent for sampling.