01/01/2018  Shatin  Race 3

EMPIRE STAR began only fairly. APPLAUSE shifted out at the start and bumped ADONIS. WINASWEWISH and AMAZING NIGHTSTAR were steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners. In the early part of the Straight, MEGA TREASURE and SUPREME WITNESS raced tight. Near the 250 Metres, EMPIRE STAR shifted out and brushed GLORIOUS LEGACY which became unbalanced and shifted out, resulting in LUCKY WIN WIN being inconvenienced when awkwardly placed inside the heels of APPLAUSE. Approaching the 100 Metres, SUPREME WITNESS was steadied away from the heels of MEGA TREASURE which shifted out. Throughout the race, GLORIOUS LEGACY travelled wide and without cover. When questioned, Mr D J Hall, the trainer of BRILLIANT DREAM, stated that the horse is relatively adaptable in that it has performed well when ridden in both a forward position or from back in the field. He added that where BRILLIANT DREAM is positioned in a race is often contingent on the manner in which it begins. He said when required to race back in the field, BRILLIANT DREAM can be unsuited by the tempo of the race as the horse tends to race ungenerously if the tempo is slow. He said, from the wide barrier today, he instructed Z Purton to have the horse travelling where it was comfortable and if it began well, to take advantage of that and obtain a forward position. When questioned, N Rawiller stated that he was instructed to obtain a forward position on RED HORSE if possible as it had previously been able to take up a forward position from a wide barrier. He said however that today RED HORSE did not began well and SIGHT SEEING, which was drawn directly to the inside of RED HORSE, clearly began decidedly better than his mount. He said having regard to the manner in which RED HORSE began, he felt that he would have had to do too much work on the horse to obtain a forward position and therefore he elected, in the early stages, to ride it from back in the field as it had also performed well when ridden in this manner in the past. He added after briefly being held up for clear running in the early part of the Straight, when improving inside EMPIRE STAR, RED HORSE then closed off the race strongly when required to be ridden more quietly today. A veterinary inspection of EVEREST immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. EMPIRE STAR, WUSHU CHAMPION and BRILLIANT DREAM were sent for sampling.