16/02/2010  Shatin  Race 6

On arrival at the Start, the tongue tie fitted to BOLERO was replaced. UPGRADING was slow to begin. Close to the winning post, SEA PRINCE was steadied away from the heels of SUPER PLUS which shifted out. When questioned, H W Lai stated that he had been instructed to have WINNER SMART travel where it was comfortable, but not to push the horse along in the early stages to obtain a position. He said accordingly he did not ride WINNER SMART along in the early stages and in order to obtain cover, he shifted his mount across behind runners in the early stages in a position behind midfield following BOLERO. Trainer K L Man stated that whilst WINNER SMART had not been beaten by big margins in some of its recent races, he had been disappointed with the manner in which WINNER SMART had been finishing off its races. He said as he anticipated that today’s race would be run at a fast tempo, he instructed H W Lai not to ride the horse along in the early stages, but rather to have it racing where it was comfortable. He said it had been hoped that this would be in a midfield position. He added when ridden in this manner, he was again disappointed with WINNER SMART’s failure to finish off the race. When questioned, M Chadwick (BRAVE SPIRIT) stated that he was instructed to ride the horse, which was coming back in distance today, in a forward position if possible, however, if it was not able to go forward, he should obtain a position with cover. He said BRAVE SPIRIT began awkwardly, he rode the horse along in the early stages to obtain a forward position, however, due to the quick tempo of the race, BRAVE SPIRIT did not show any early speed. He said therefore passing the 1300 Metres he decided to come back and obtain a position with cover rather than continue to ride his mount along. He said he had hoped to obtain a position behind CAGA SPIRIT passing the 1000 Metres, however, BOLERO shifted out to occupy that position and therefore he was not able to obtain cover on BRAVE SPIRIT and the horse raced further back than had been intended. A veterinary inspection of BRAVE SPIRIT after the race did not show any significant findings. AASHIQ and ENRICHED were sent for sampling.