07/04/2010  Happy Valley  Race 5

BRILLIANT ONE was withdrawn prior to Race 1 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (capped elbow right fore). Before being allowed to race again, BRILLIANT ONE will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. GLORIOUS GIANT shifted in at the start and bumped SOHNA. From the outside barrier, VALUE CHOICE was taken across behind runners shortly after the start. When being steadied to obtain a position behind runners closer to the fence, PLANET got its head up for some distance shortly after the start. Near the 1150 Metres, GLORIOUS GIANT was momentarily crowded for room between POWER AND GOLD and SOHNA, both of which shifted ground. Near the 550 Metres, POWER AND GOLD (Y T Cheng) was checked and became unbalanced when momentarily crowded for room inside GLORIOUS GIANT which shifted in slightly. In this incident, Y T Cheng’s right foot made contact with the running rail. Near the 450 Metres, SOHNA shifted out when awkwardly placed close to the heels of GLORIOUS GIANT and in doing so made heavy contact with ESPERANZA, resulting in both horses becoming badly unbalanced. As the Stewards were of the view there was no rider error involved in this incident, no further action was taken. Shortly after entering the Straight, SOLAR UP and TOP DRAGON bumped due to both horses shifting ground. TOP DRAGON then shifted out, resulting in NOT QUITE PERFECT having to be steadied away from that horse and in turn shifted out, resulting in GLORIOUS GIANT being inconvenienced. Near the 250 Metres, POWER AND GOLD, which had been held up for clear running, was shifted out in an endeavour to obtain a run to the outside of TOP DRAGON. As POWER AND GOLD was not clear to shift out at this time, the horse was checked by its rider and shifted in. A short distance later, POWER AND GOLD was again checked when disappointed for running between SOLAR UP and TOP DRAGON which shifted in slightly. POWER AND GOLD was then not able to obtain clear running until near the 100 Metres. When questioned regarding the improved performance of TOP DRAGON, Trainer Y S Tsui stated that at its first run in Hong Kong over 1400 Metres, the horse had raced creditably to be beaten just in excess of 7 lengths. He said at its next start when stepping up to 1600 Metres, TOP DRAGON, although meeting interference near the 900 Metres, was, in his opinion, disappointing and for this reason he elected to drop the horse back in distance. He said TOP DRAGON, which was racing at Happy Valley for the first time tonight, was more settled in the Parade Ring than it had been at its previous starts at Sha Tin. He said TOP DRAGON’s track work had improved since its last run, therefore he had expected some improvement in the horse’s performance tonight, however, its win had not been anticipated. Mr Tsui was advised that now that TOP DRAGON had found form, the horse would be expected to race consistently wherever possible in future. A veterinary inspection of NOT QUITE PERFECT after the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of SOLAR UP after the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of mucopus in the horse’s trachea. TOP DRAGON and RUGBY HEAVEN were sent for sampling.