13/06/2009  Shatin  Race 1

BRAVE HEART, Standby Declared Starter, was withdrawn on 12.6.09 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore). TRAVEL KING was withdrawn on raceday morning by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (substantial quantity of mucopus on scoping after track work). Before being allowed to race again, BRAVE HEART and TRAVEL KING will both be subjected to an official veterinary examination. During the preliminary, R Fradd was dislodged from BE GRATEFUL. R Fradd suffered a harmless fall and maintained control over BE GRATEFUL. HEALTHY BLUEBERRY and OTTIMO were slow to begin. LEADING CITY, which was fractious in the stall, bounded in the air at the start and as a consequence lost ground. In the early stages, SUPREME WIN was taken back from the outside barrier. Making the turn at the 800 Metres, PLENTIFUL, which was proving difficult to settle, got its head up when being steadied away from the heels of BE GRATEFUL which was momentarily steadied when awkwardly placed inside the heels of SHIBALA. Also making the turn at the 800 Metres, HEALTHY BLUEBERRY was steadied away from the heels of LEADING CITY. Near the 600 Metres, SUPREME WIN was checked when crowded for room inside PLENTIFUL (C K Tong) which got its head on the side and shifted in momentarily. As the Stewards were satisfied C K Tong had endeavoured to straighten his mount as soon as could be expected, no action was taken. In the Straight, SUPREME WIN and PLENTIFUL hung out. SHIBALA was sent for an official veterinary inspection. After the race, SHIBALA was examined by the Veterinary Officer. He said the horse was lame in the right hind leg and an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of mucopus in the horse's trachea. Before being allowed to race again, SHIBALA will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. ROYAL FLUSH and LEADING CITY were sent for sampling.