17/05/2009  Shatin  Race 7

The declaration of weighed-in was deferred whilst the Stewards considered whether SUPER BABY had had an unfair start. W C Marwing, the rider of SUPER BABY, explained when the gates opened the horse planted and refused to leave the barriers. The official video confirmed that when the gates opened SUPER BABY planted and failed to leave the stalls and as such took no part in the race. The Stewards ruled that SUPER BABY had not had an unfair start and therefore was deemed as a runner and weighed-in was declared on the numbers as semaphored by the Judge. Before being allowed to race again, SUPER BABY will have to perform satisfactorily in a series of official barrier trials. TRIUMPHANT DIAMOND and GREEN GLORY were slow to begin. OCTAGONAL CANYON began very awkwardly, bounded in the air and on landing became badly unbalanced, causing W M Lai, its rider, to be almost dislodged. At the 400 Metres, RAIN OF THUNDER was steadied away from the heels of MAVERICK. Over the concluding stages, RAIN OF THUNDER hung in. Just prior to the winning post, ZEPHYRUS was steadied and shifted in away from the heels of BATURO. Throughout the race, MAVERICK travelled wide and without cover. Apprentice M Chadwick (HAPPY ALL AROUND) explained he had been instructed to endeavour to have his mount as handy as possible in the run. He said HAPPY ALL AROUND began only fairly from a wide barrier, then did not muster as it had in the past. He said as a consequence HAPPY ALL AROUND drifted to a rearward position. He said because of this he elected to allow HAPPY ALL AROUND to drift further back and shift across to race on the fence at the rear. He said HAPPY ALL AROUND did not travel well in the early and middle stages. He said making the Home Turn he shifted HAPPY ALL AROUND to the outside of the field to ensure it had clear running in the Home Straight, however, his mount closed the race off only fairly. TRIUMPHANT DIAMOND, MAVERICK and HAPPY ALL AROUND were sent for an official veterinary inspection. A veterinary inspection of TRIUMPHANT DIAMOND, MAVERICK and HAPPY ALL AROUND after the race did not show any significant findings. WIN MORE, WONG’S SUCCESS and BATURO were sent for sampling.