15/02/2012  Happy Valley  Race 8

MILITARY ATTACK was slow to begin. Approaching the winning post on the first occasion, PACKING WHIZ got its head up and proved difficult to settle when momentarily tightened between FLYING SUPREME and MILITARY ATTACK. Approaching the 1200 Metres, FORTUNE RED PEPPER was left racing wide and without cover and shortly after this was allowed to improve its position into the lead. Near the 1100 Metres, PACKING WHIZ proved very difficult to settle and got its head up for some distance. Making the turn near the 1000 Metres, VOILE ROUGE shifted out away from the heels of DRAGON FIGHTER, resulting in MR BOND being taken wider. After this, MR BOND travelled wide and without cover. For a short distance after the 1000 Metres, HAPPY TUMBLER was steadied away from the heels of REGENCY WINNER. In the middle stages, FORTUNE RED PEPPER proved difficult to settle. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of VOILE ROUGE, D Whyte stated that after travelling comfortably in the early stages VOILE ROUGE commenced to prove difficult to settle after the 1000 Metres. He said after this VOILE ROUGE travelled more kindly, however, after being placed under pressure rounding the Home Turn got its head up and did not stretch out which is unusual for the horse. He added it had been decided to remove the blinkers from VOILE ROUGE tonight in an endeavour to help it see out the distance of tonight’s race and this may have attributed to the fact that VOILE ROUGE got its head up under pressure. A veterinary inspection of MR BOND, VOILE ROUGE and REGENCY WINNER after the race did not show any significant findings. MR BOND, MILITARY ATTACK and TURF EXPRESS were sent for sampling.