23/12/2010  Happy Valley  Race 5

Shortly after entering the Straight, BOSS was inconvenienced when taken in by MR CELERITY. Near the 150 Metres, MR CELERITY, which was closing off the race strongly, was checked when disappointed for running between DOUBLE LUCK which shifted out and OUR PEGASUS which, when commencing to give ground, was taken in by FOREVER ELATION (G Mossé). G Mossé was advised that whilst there were a number of circumstances which led to this incident, he was nonetheless reprimanded for permitting his mount to shift in and advised in future to make more of an effort to prevent his mounts from shifting ground. Over the final 50 Metres, BOSS was awkwardly placed close to the heels of ETERNAL BEAUTY. Because of this, BOSS was not ridden out to the end of the race as it normally would be. Throughout the race, GLENEALY STAR travelled wide and without cover. M Chadwick explained that as the start was effected, PENGLAI XIANZI bounded in the air, then on landing knuckled over and became badly unbalanced and because of this lost a considerable amount of ground. He said after this, the horse took some time to get balanced and became detached from the field. Before being allowed to race again, PENGLAI XIANZI will be required to perform satisfactorily in an official barrier trial. When questioned, M Guyon stated that from the outside barrier he had been instructed to ride MR CELERITY in a forward position if the horse began well and he was able to do so without having to make too much use of it. He said shortly after the start he assessed that the tempo was going to be strong in the early part of the race and for this reason he elected to shift across behind runners rather than push MR CELERITY to take up a forward position. Trainer A T Millard confirmed that he had asked M Guyon to take up a forward position if it was available to him without having to over-use the horse to do so. He said he did advise Jockey Guyon that if he felt the pace of the race in the early stages was going to be too strong, he should attempt to shift MR CELERITY across and find cover on the horse. He said he felt that the circumstances of the race resulted in MR CELERITY racing further back than had been intended. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of OUR PEGASUS, H W Lai said that the horse travelled satisfactorily until the Home Turn at which point it came under pressure. He said he commenced to ride the horse out, however, OUR PEGASUS started to give ground and was most disappointing in its failure to respond to his riding. A veterinary inspection of PENGLAI XIANZI and OUR PEGASUS after the race did not show any significant findings. After the race, an endoscopic examination was conducted on DOUBLE LUCK at the request of Trainer K L Man. The Veterinary Officer said this examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse`s trachea. Before being allowed to race again, DOUBLE LUCK will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. DOUBLE LUCK, GRAND DRAGON and FOREVER ELATION were sent for sampling.