04/10/2009  Shatin  Race 1

LUCKYME, which lost the left front plate behind the barriers, was replated and examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was suitable to race. FOREST FOUNTAIN began awkwardly and then in the early stages proved difficult to settle. Rounding the Home Turn, DASHING THUNDER shifted out from behind BATURO to obtain clear running and in doing so bumped WESTERN STAR which was beginning to tire. WESTERN STAR in turn shifted out and bumped LUCKYME which became unbalanced. Near the 50 Metres, when being struck with the whip, MARIACHI shifted out abruptly to towards the outside fence, resulting in its rider, H W Lai, becoming very unbalanced in the saddle. Trainer P F Yiu was shown the video of the incident and advised that the Stewards would monitor the horse’s racing manners in its future runs. When questioned regarding his riding out of MARIACHI over the concluding stages, H W Lai stated that after his mount shifted out abruptly near the 50 Metres, MARIACHI continued to shift out and raced close to the outside fence. He said that whilst he was able to momentarily resume riding his mount out hands and heels, he was concerned MARIACHI would continue to shift out and for this reason he did not ride it out close to the finishing line as he normally would. H W Lai was advised that having in mind the abruptness of the shift of MARIACHI near the 50 Metres and the fact that the horse had continued to veer towards the outside fence, he was being afforded the benefit of the doubt and no further action would be taken, however, he was told that, wherever possible, he should ride his mounts out to the end of the race to the best of his ability. Throughout the race, LUCKYME travelled wide and without cover. A veterinary inspection of ZEPHYRUS after the race did not show any significant findings. LUCKYME, DASHING THUNDER and DASH AHEAD were sent for sampling. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that LUCKYME had lost its left front plate and had a nail punctured the horse’s sole. Before being allowed to race again, LUCKYME will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.