22/12/2016  Happy Valley  Race 1

At declaration time, S de Sousa was declared as the rider of both INVISIBLE and SUPER FORM. It was established that S de Sousa had a firm commitment to ride INVISIBLE. As such, the Stewards permitted J Moreira to be substituted as the rider of SUPER FORM. For this declaration error, Trainer A T Millard was fined $2,000. BEST TANGO jumped in at the start, resulting in OSCAR MIRACLE being crowded onto ACCLAIMED LIGHT which in turn shifted in and inconvenienced GOOD CHOICE AHEAD. Passing the winning post on the first occasion, INVISIBLE was steadied when momentarily crowded for room inside SALSA BROTHERS (O Murphy) which shifted in momentarily before being directed back out to relieve the tightening. O Murphy was reprimanded and advised to exercise more care when shifting ground. After the 1000 Metres, INVISIBLE was left racing wide and without cover. N Callan (ACCLAIMED LIGHT) was severely reprimanded for allowing his mount to shift in soon after straightening which resulted in ACCLAIMED LIGHT bumping heavily with OSCAR MIRACLE which became unbalanced. ACCLAIMED LIGHT and OSCAR MIRACLE again made contact approaching the 200 Metres. Near the 200 Metres, O Doleuze (LITTLE FANTASY) dropped his whip. Passing the 200 Metres, SALSA BROTHERS and GOOD CHOICE AHEAD made contact and became unbalanced. N Callan was warned for permitting ACCLAIMED LIGHT to shift in near the 150 Metres when not quite clear of OSCAR MIRACLE. Over the final 100 Metres, LITTLE FANTASY was not able to be fully tested when racing in restricted room inside REWARDING FLYER. Approaching the finishing line, B Prebble’s (BEST TANGO) right foot momentarily slipped from the stirrup iron, resulting in him losing balance. REWARDING FLYER had some difficulty obtaining clear running in the Straight. When questioned regarding his riding after the 1000 Metres, S de Sousa (INVISIBLE) stated that making the turn near the 1000 Metres when racing wide and without cover, INVISIBLE drifted out slightly which permitted ACCLAIMED LIGHT to improve to the inside of his mount’s heels. He said as he contemplated shifting back in to resume his position, he became aware that ACCLAIMED LIGHT was racing to the inside of the heels of INVISIBLE and had he continued to shift back in, he would likely have caused interference to that horse and therefore he was obliged to have his mount hold its line albeit racing in a four wide position. S de Sousa was advised to ensure that he rides competitively at all stages and does not give up favourable positions. A veterinary inspection of SALSA BROTHERS immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of REWARDING FLYER immediately following the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse's trachea. Before being allowed to race again, REWARDING FLYER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. SUPER FORM, ACCLAIMED LIGHT and AGIAAL were sent for sampling.