07/07/2010  Happy Valley  Race 5

After being loaded, OUR PEGASUS became fractious and as the start was effected began awkwardly and as a result lost ground. ASSURE shifted out at the start and bumped the hindquarters of SMART KIDS which also shifted in. AT MOMENT IN TIME was slow to begin and then shortly after the start was crowded for room between CHEVALIER KING and KING ENCOSTA, both of which shifted ground. AT MOMENT IN TIME got its head on the side and lay out making the first turn. Approaching the 500 Metres, ASSURE got its head on the side and hung out, resulting in TOWKAY FLYER, JUN HUA and FLY HIGH all being taken wider. When questioned, H W Lai stated that he had been instructed to ride FIVE CLUBS in 4th or 5th position with cover if possible given that FIVE CLUBS had drawn the outside barrier. He said in the early stages he noted a line of horses to his inside, he formed the view that too much use would have to be made of FIVE CLUBS to clear runners to his inside and in any event he most likely would not have been able to obtain a position with cover. He said for this reason approaching the 800 Metres he elected to shift FIVE CLUBS in across behind runners to obtain cover, however, this was further back than had been anticipated. He said approaching the first turn FIVE CLUBS proved difficult to settle and then making the first turn hung out. When questioned, B Prebble stated that due to the wide draw and the anticipated fast tempo of the race, he had been instructed to ride FLY HIGH from a position behind midfield. He said in the early stages he was positioned to the outside of JUN HUA and he formed the view that that horse was being ridden along to obtain a more forward position. He said therefore he elected to attempt to obtain a position with cover behind that horse. He said both JUN HUA and FLY HIGH were caught wide approaching the 800 Metres and he considered allowing FLY HIGH to stride forward, however, due to the manner in which JUN HUA was being ridden, he believed that too much use would have to be made of the horse at that time to clear JUN HUA and in any case FLY HIGH would still be left racing in a three wide position. He said therefore he attempted to obtain a position with cover behind JUN HUA, however, as he did this, FIVE CLUBS improved its position to be racing to the inside of FLY HIGH, therefore he was not able to obtain cover behind JUN HUA. He said making the first turn FLY HIGH was taken out when runners shifted out to his inside which resulted in FLY HIGH racing very wide. A veterinary inspection of FLY HIGH after the race did not show any significant findings other than the horse had lost its right front plate. EVER BEAUTY and GOOD WORDS were sent for sampling. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that AT MOMENT IN TIME had lost its right hind plate.