14/03/2018  Happy Valley  Race 2

DARING HEART was slow to begin. Soon after the start, DARING HEART commenced to buck and continued to do so for some distance approaching and passing the winning post on the first occasion, losing a considerable amount of ground. As this was the second occasion on which DARING HEART had performed similarly in a race, the Stewards ruled that that horse must undergo a series of satisfactory consecutive barrier trials and be subjected to an official veterinary examination prior to being permitted to race again. The Stewards further ruled that in these barrier trials DARING HEART must be ridden in a race saddle. A veterinary inspection of DARING HEART immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ART OF RAW shifted out at the start and bumped UNIQUE JOYOUS. A short distance after the start, UNIQUE JOYOUS was crowded for room between ART OF RAW and PLAY IT which shifted in after becoming unbalanced as a result of initially shifting out and bumping GENTRY. CLEMENT LEGEND was crowded for room a short distance after the start between GENTRY and MULTIGOGO which shifted in. After this, CLEMENT LEGEND was shifted across behind runners. Approaching the 1200 Metres, GENTRY, which was racing outside the heels of LUCKY STORM, was taken into a three wide position without cover when LUCKY STORM shifted to the outside of ART OF RAW. After this, GENTRY was ridden along for a short distance in an attempt to resume its position two wide behind LUCKY STORM, however, ROYALE ELEGANCE, which was travelling keenly, improved to be racing inside GENTRY which resulted in that horse being left racing wide and without cover for the remainder of the race. Passing the 1100 Metres, DARING HEART commenced to prove very difficult to settle and got its head up for some distance when improving close to the heels of PLAY IT. After the 800 Metres, ROYALE ELEGANCE commenced to prove very difficult to settle and shifted out away from the heels of LUCKY STORM after being awkwardly placed behind that horse. PLAY IT, which was following, shifted out away from the heels of ROYALE ELEGANCE in consequence. Making the turn after the 600 Metres, ROYALE ELEGANCE and DARING HEART raced tight. Then near the 550 Metres, ROYALE ELEGANCE became awkwardly placed behind LUCKY STORM. A Sanna was fined $5,000 for breaching Stewards’ Instruction 22(3) in that he used his whip to excess on CLEMENT LEGEND when that horse was clearly out of contention. When questioned, B Prebble stated that approaching the 150 Metres whilst there was clear running available to the inside of ART OF RAW, he believed it would be in the best interests of ROYALE ELEGANCE to shift that horse to the outside of ART OF RAW as he felt that it would finish off the race better to the outside of runners rather than having to improve between horses. He said whilst this resulted in ROYALE ELEGANCE being momentarily eased away from the heels of ART OF RAW passing the 150 Metres, he was able to shift ROYALE ELEGANCE to the outside of that horse and obtain clear running all the way to the finish of the race. MULTIGOGO and GREAT JOY were sent for sampling.