21/02/2016  Shatin  Race 1

At declaration time, K C Leung was declared as the rider of both FRIENDS OF NANJING and GOLDEN CANNON. It was established that K C Leung had a firm commitment to ride FRIENDS OF NANJING. As such, the Stewards permitted M Chadwick to be substituted as the rider of GOLDEN CANNON. For this declaration error, K C Leung was fined $2,000. When proceeding to the Start, K Teetan was dislodged from FANCY MUSIC without incident. FANCY MUSIC was slow to begin. From wide barriers, AH BO and HOME RUN were shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Making the turn after the 900 Metres, WILD FIVE was awkwardly placed close to the heels of VOLITATION. When being steadied in the lead after the 900 Metres, FREE NOVEMBER travelled keenly. Shortly after straightening, WINNER ST PAUL'S raced tight inside WILD FIVE which shifted in. WINNER ST PAUL'S was then held up for clear running until after passing the 400 Metres. Approaching and passing the 250 Metres, WILD FIVE got its head on the side and shifted in towards VOLITATION which shifted out marginally. Near the 50 Metres, VOLITATION was inconvenienced by WILD FIVE which again got its head on the side and shifted in abruptly. Throughout the race, WINNING VIBE travelled wide and without cover. After the race, WINNING VIBE was found to have sustained a minor overreach wound to the inside of the right hind heel. When questioned, N Rawiller stated that AH BO was out-paced in the early stages after he shifted the horse across from barrier 10 to a position closer to the rail. He said after the 1100 Metres he commenced to niggle at AH BO as the horse started to lose ground on the field. He said as AH BO continued to lose ground, he had to ride it along after the 1000 Metres including slapping the horse down the shoulder with the whip in an endeavour to have it obtain a position closer to the main body of the field He added AH BO would not stretch out in the early stages and then making the first turn got its head on the side, hung out and put in a bad stride which gave him the impression that the horse might have struck itself. He said AH BO continued to lay out and give ground and near the 700 Metres he considered easing the horse out of the race. He said however that passing the 600 Metres AH BO commenced to race more tractably and appeared to be more balanced in its action. He said he rode his mount along rounding the Home Turn and in the Straight, when placed under full pressure, AH BO then closed off the race well. A veterinary inspection of AH BO immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. Before being allowed to race again, AH BO will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of FREE NOVEMBER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. RICHCITY FORTUNE, FRIENDS OF NANJING and WINNING VIBE were sent for sampling.