16/02/2014  Shatin  Race 5

TONYBOY was withdrawn on raceday morning by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (head injury). Before being allowed to race again, TONYBOY will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. ULTIMATE WINNERS and OPTIMISM were slow to begin. From wide barriers, MONTE CASTELLO and BESPOKE COLLARS were taken across behind runners shortly after the start. Despite being ridden along in the early stages, MULTIEXPRESS failed to show sufficient speed to cross runners to its inside and consequently was left racing wide and without cover throughout. SMART FORWARD lost its left hind plate near the 850 Metres. When questioned, Z Purton stated that he was asked to ride ASIA RISING, which was having its first start in Hong Kong today, in about a midfield position with cover from barrier 10 if possible. He said he rode his mount along in the early stages including slapping it down the shoulder with the whip and ASIA RISING raced greenly and shifted ground on a number of occasions. He said making the turns after the 800 Metres ASIA RISING hung out and he was required to place considerable pressure on the inside rein to prevent it from shifting out. He said he continued to slap the horse down the shoulder with the whip in an endeavour to have it turn as close to the main body of the field as possible. He said because of ASIA RISING hanging out, it became somewhat detached from the remainder of the field. He added he pushed the horse along making the final part of the turn and immediately placed it under pressure. He added ASIA RISING responded very well to his riding and finished off the race strongly over the final 200 Metres before racing in restricted room over the concluding stages between ULTIMATE WINNERS and SMART FORWARD. After the race, K C Leung reported that ULTIMATE WINNERS made an abnormal respiratory noise near the 200 Metres. An endoscopic examination of ULTIMATE WINNERS after the race did not reveal any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of SMART FORWARD immediately following the race revealed the horse to have bled from both nostrils. A veterinary inspection of MONTE CASTELLO immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ACCESS YEARS and DASHING FORTUNE were sent for sampling.