03/12/2017  Shatin  Race 7

BIZ POWER and DESMIOS were slow to begin. HAPPY METEOR shifted out on jumping and bumped TURF SPRINT. When questioned regarding the performance of ENCORE BOY, C Schofield stated that he had trialed the horse and ridden it in track work in the lead up to today’s race and based on this work it was anticipated that ENCORE BOY would run a good race. He said if ENCORE BOY began well, it was intended for the horse to be ridden in a forward position and with its light weight as compared to HOT KING PRAWN carrying 130 lbs, it was felt that ENCORE BOY would be able to show sufficient pace to be racing with that horse in the lead. He said ENCORE BOY began well and was able to shift across to race inside HOT KING PRAWN without having to be ridden aggressively to do so. He said ENCORE BOY travelled fairly in the early and middle stages, however, came under pressure after the 400 Metres and then was very disappointing in the manner in which it gave ground, particularly over the final 200 Metres. Trainer P F Yiu was not able to offer any explanation for the disappointing performance of ENCORE BOY other than the horse was first up today and, when racing inside of HOT KING PRAWN, was not able to settle sufficiently for it to be then able to finish off the race. He stated that although ENCORE BOY’s first up run last season was its first race start in Hong Kong, the horse had similarly disappointed him after missing the start. He said it may be that ENCORE BOY improves with racing. A veterinary inspection of ENCORE BOY immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. W M Lai stated that he eased down SUNSHINE UNIVERSE over the concluding stages as the horse had not responded to his riding for some distance prior to this. A veterinary inspection of SUNSHINE UNIVERSE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. HOT KING PRAWN and TURF SPRINT were sent for sampling.