16/12/2009  Happy Valley  Race 3

WIN WIN was withdrawn 15.12.09 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left hind) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter NOT QUITE PERFECT (Apprentice M L Yeung). Before being allowed to race again, WIN WIN will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. On arrival at the Start, it was noted that TOUT VA BIEN had lost its left front plate. After the plate was reset, the horse was examined by the Veterinary Officer who said, in his opinion, it was suitable to race. BEL CANTO and MORE THAN YOU WISH were slow to begin. NOT QUITE PERFECT and MAGIC KING began awkwardly. Shortly after the start, NOT QUITE PERFECT was momentarily crowded for room between GOLDEN BAUHINIA and RAINBOW SEEKER which shifted in. In this incident, NOT QUITE PERFECT bumped the hindquarters of GOLDEN BAUHINIA which became unbalanced. Near the 800 Metres, MORE THAN YOU WISH was steadied away from the heels of NOT QUITE PERFECT which got its head on the side and shifted in despite the efforts of its rider. Rounding the first turn, FLY HIGH was steadied away from the heels of GOLDEN BAUHINIA which hung out. Passing the 500 Metres, PAR EXCELLENCE was momentarily awkwardly placed inside TOUT VA BIEN. Throughout the race, OUR PEGASUS travelled wide and without cover. When questioned, B Doyle (WINDICATOR RETURNS) stated that he had been instructed to allow the horse to begin and have it positioned where it was comfortable. He said at its most recent start the horse proved difficult to settle after being ridden along aggressively in the early stages and for this reason it was felt that the horse was not able to finish off its race. He said tonight from barrier 11, too much use would have to be made of WINDICATOR RETURNS to obtain a forward position and it was felt that the horse would benefit from being ridden behind the leaders with cover if possible. He said he allowed WINDICATOR RETURNS to stride forward in the early stages, but when horses to his inside showed superior speed, he allowed OUR PEGASUS to shift in from the outside which resulted in WINDICATOR RETURNS being able to obtain cover. Trainer T W Leung confirmed the instructions issued to B Doyle and said that he had been disappointed with the horse’s most recent effort in that it had not been able to finish off the race due to the manner in which it was ridden in the early stages. He said for this reason he did not want WINDICATOR RETURNS to be ridden aggressively from a wide barrier tonight. When questioned, D Whyte (PAR EXCELLENCE) stated that it had been anticipated that RAINBOW SEEKER, which had drawn immediately to his inside and which was wearing blinkers for the first time in Hong Kong tonight, would be ridden to take up a forward position in the early stages. He said for this reason he elected to shift across behind that horse and obtain a position on the fence in the early stages. When questioned regarding his riding in the early stages on WITHALLMYHEART, M W Leung stated that he had been instructed to have the horse race in about a midfield position as it performed well when ridden in this manner at its last start. He said WITHALLMYHEART began better than he had expected and because of this he immediately took hold of his mount in the early stages in an endeavour to shift over closer to the fence to race behind PAR EXCELLENCE which would have put him in a midfield position. He said after shifting in behind PAR EXCELLENCE near the 850 Metres, he immediately commenced to ride his mount along to hold his position behind that horse, however, WITHALLMYHEART did not respond to his riding and was not able to maintain its position on the back of PAR EXCELLENCE. He said he continued to ride his mount along approaching and passing the 700 Metres, however, WITHALLMYHEART was still not able to maintain its position and consequently MAGIC KING was able to shift in in front of WITHALLMYHEART near the 600 Metres. He said rounding the Home Turn he continued to ride WITHALLMYHEART along and in the Straight placed it under pressure and the horse finished off the race strongly. When questioned regarding his riding of FLY HIGH, Y T Cheng stated that he commenced using the whip on the horse passing the 300 Metres. He said he continued to use the whip on the horse until about the 200 Metres, however, he felt that FLY HIGH was not responding to the whip, therefore he put it away and commenced to ride the horse out hands and heels. He said he recommenced using the whip near the 100 Metres and continued to do so until the concluding stages. He said, in his opinion, FLY HIGH finished off the race fairly. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of MORE THAN YOU WISH, Z Purton stated that the horse did not travel at any stage of the race and, in his opinion, raced “flat”. He said he had recommended to the connections of MORE THAN YOU WISH that the horse be freshened up following tonight’s performance. A veterinary inspection of MORE THAN YOU WISH after the race did not show any significant findings. GOLDEN BAUHINIA and FLY HIGH were sent for sampling. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that GOLDEN BAUHINIA had lost its left hind plate. Also after the race, it was noted that MAGIC KING had blood present at its right nostril. The Veterinary Officer reported that an endoscopic examination showed the horse’s trachea to be clean and as such MAGIC KING was not deemed to have bled.