23/12/2017  Shatin  Race 6

DRAGON MASTER began very awkwardly and lost ground at the start. Passing the 300 Metres, DRAGON GENERAL was awkwardly placed close to the heels of MYTHICAL EMPEROR which commenced to give ground. After passing the 200 Metres, DANCES WITH DRAGON (B Prebble), which was closing off the race strongly, made ground quickly to be near the heels of PABLOSKY which had commenced to come under pressure. As DANCES WITH DRAGON was shifted in marginally to avoid the heels of PABLOSKY, that horse made contact with BIG TIME BABY, resulting in both horses becoming unbalanced. DANCES WITH DRAGON then continued to improve to the inside of the heels of PABLOSKY, resulting in BIG TIME BABY being taken in and momentarily becoming awkward on the heels of WATER DIVINER which shifted out slightly. B Prebble was advised that the Stewards were affording him the benefit of the doubt in relation to this incident as his mount had made ground quickly to be awkwardly placed close to the heels of PABLOSKY and that WATER DIVINER had shifted out and had contributed in some way to the degree of interference suffered by BIG TIME BABY. B Prebble was nonetheless severely reprimanded and advised that in similar circumstances he would be expected to exercise more care. After the race, W M Lai reported that MYTHICAL EMPEROR made an abnormal breathing noise when placed under pressure and for this reason he did not test the horse over the concluding stages. A veterinary inspection of MYTHICAL EMPEROR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. Before being allowed to race again, MYTHICAL EMPEROR will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of STRATHMORE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. HOT KING PRAWN and WATER DIVINER were sent for sampling.