04/02/2018  Shatin  Race 9

On arrival at the Start, BETTER CHOICE, which was fractious when being saddled up, was examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was suitable to race. Also on arrival at the Start, ALL MY GAIN was found to have a wound inside the right hind fetlock. The Veterinary Officer said accordingly the horse was not suitable to race. Acting on this advice, the Stewards ordered the withdrawal of ALL MY GAIN. Before being allowed to race again, ALL MY GAIN will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. VICTORY MACHINE began only fairly and then despite being ridden along in the early stages failed to muster speed. ENJOYABLE SUCCESS was slow to begin and then from a wide barrier was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Then despite being ridden along in the early stages, ENJOYABLE SUCCESS became detached from the field. From wide barriers, BETTER CHOICE and VICTORY MARVEL were shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Near the 950 Metres, VICTORY MACHINE was steadied away from the heels of IVICTORY which at this time was taken in marginally by DASHING GAINER which was steadied to avoid the heels of ORIONIDS (Apprentice H T Mo) which shifted in when not properly clear. Apprentice Mo was reprimanded and advised to ensure that he provides sufficient clearance when crossing other runners in future. Making the first turn near the 900 Metres, MY BEGINNER’S LUCK (N Rawiller) got its head on the side and hung out badly across the heels of ORIONIDS, resulting in MY BEGINNER’S LUCK losing ground abruptly. As MY BEGINNER’S LUCK shifted out, IVICTORY, which was following, was severely checked and DASHING GAINER, which was racing to the outside of IVICTORY, was hampered and taken wider. N Rawiller stated that he had ridden MY BEGINNER’S LUCK in a piece of work in the lead up to today’s race as well as in a number of barrier trials up the Straight at Sha Tin and at no time had MY BEGINNER’S LUCK shown any tendency to hang out. He said after this incident he was able to shift MY BEGINNER’S LUCK back over to race outside PEACE N PROSPERITY, however, approaching and passing the 700 Metres MY BEGINNER’S LUCK continued to race ungenerously with its head on the side and continued to want to shift out. He added rounding the Home Turn, when giving ground, MY BEGINNER’S LUCK continued to lay out and then in the early part of the Straight gave ground abruptly. He said because of the manner in which MY BEGINNER’S LUCK had raced in the middle stages, he was concerned that the horse may have gone amiss and for this reason he eased it down in the Straight. He said however that on return to the unplaced runners’ area MY BEGINNER’S LUCK appeared to be trotting soundly. When MY BEGINNER’S LUCK was shifted back in near the 750 Metres, SUPER WISE, which had improved to be racing inside MY BEGINNER’S LUCK, was checked in consequence. Having taken into account of the racing manners of MY BEGINNER’S LUCK at this time, no further action was taken. The racing manners of MY BEGINNER’S LUCK were however considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, MY BEGINNER’S LUCK will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial around a bend and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of MY BEGINNER’S LUCK immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. The performance of DASHING GAINER, which travelled wide and without cover throughout the race and then gave ground in the Straight to finish tailed out, was considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, DASHING GAINER will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. SUPER WISE lay out rounding the Home Turn. A veterinary inspection of BETTER CHOICE immediately following the race found that horse to have bled from both nostrils. IVICTORY and SUPER WISE were sent for sampling. <7/2/2018 4 February 2018 Sha Tin Racemeeting – Race 9 (399)>The Stewards tonight interviewed K Teetan regarding him using the whip on one known occasion when parading behind the barriers on BETTER CHOICE prior to being loaded into the barriers. K Teetan was fined the sum of $5,000 for breaching Stewards’ Instruction 22 of the Rules of Racing in that he improperly used the whip on one occasion on BETTER CHOICE behind the barriers. In assessing penalty, the Stewards took into consideration that K Teetan readily acknowledged that it was inappropriate to use the whip on the horse prior to the race.