16/12/2009  Happy Valley  Race 6

SONOFTHEWEST was withdrawn on 15.12.09 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by first Standby Declared Starter CARE FREE MIDAS (Y T Cheng). STORMIN JOBURG was also withdrawn on 15.12.09 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (sore left fore tendon) and was replaced by second Standby Declared Starter SURE GOOD (J Lloyd). Before being allowed to race again, SONOFTHEWEST and STORMIN JOBURG will both be subjected to an official veterinary examination. SUGAR ON TOP and CARE FREE MIDAS were slow to begin. Shortly after the start, when being taken across behind runners, SUGAR ON TOP struck the heels of DESTINY’S CHILD and blundered. Near the 550 Metres, NATIONAL TREASURE was steadied away from the heels of SURE GOOD which itself was checked away from the heels of TAI HANG’S PRIDE. A short distance later, NATIONAL TREASURE (D Whyte) shifted in away from the heels of SURE GOOD, resulting in SUGAR ON TOP being steadied. D Whyte was advised to exercise more care in similar circumstances. Near the 300 Metres, NATIONAL TREASURE was awkwardly placed behind WIN-A-LOT and inside MIGHTY WINNER which shifted in. Then, passing the 200 Metres, NATIONAL TREASURE became unbalanced when obtaining a tight run to the inside of WIN-A-LOT which shifted out. D Whyte stated that after obtaining clear running to the inside of WIN-A-LOT, he did not use the whip on the horse as he believed that NATIONAL TREASURE was giving its best when being ridden out hands and heels. He said that he was always confident that NATIONAL TREASURE would be able to finish in front of WIN-A-LOT and for this reason he did not believe NATIONAL TREASURE would derive any benefit by being struck with the whip. In the Straight, both SUNSHINE BOY and POWER AND GOLD hung out. When questioned regarding his riding of COOL CAT, Apprentice M L Yeung stated that from the outside barrier he was instructed to obtain a forward position if possible, but not to make too much use of the horse to do so and rather to rely on the horse’s natural speed. He said it was felt that if COOL CAT was ridden along vigorously in the early stages to obtain a forward position, the horse would not be able to finish off the race. He said COOL CAT began fairly, he rode his mount along in the early stages to have it obtain a forward position if possible, however, SUNSHINE BOY, which was racing to his inside, was ridden along to obtain a forward position and it soon became apparent to him that he would not be able to clear that horse. He said therefore he elected to attempt to shift behind SUNSHINE BOY and obtain a position with cover. He said as he did this, SUNSHINE BOY did not continue forward which resulted in him being unable to shift COOL CAT behind SUNSHINE BOY. He said as a result of this, COOL CAT was obliged to race wide and without cover throughout. A veterinary inspection of POWER AND GOLD after the race did not show any significant findings. NATIONAL TREASURE, BLADE FORCE and TAI HANG’S PRIDE were sent for sampling. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that SURE GOOD had bled from both nostrils.