04/07/2018  Happy Valley  Race 8

From the outside barriers, SHARP SAILOR and WINNING FAITH were steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Despite being ridden along in the early stages, PRETTY BAUHINIA took some time to muster speed. Approaching the 1200 Metres, LIMITLESS got its head on the side and lay out towards the heels of BEAUTY SPIRIT. Passing the 500 Metres, RIVET was awkwardly placed behind STAR MAJESTIC when held up behind that horse. RIVET then had difficulty obtaining clear running rounding the Home Turn and in the early part of the straight and passing the 200 Metres was shifted in away from the heels of BEAUTY SPIRIT to obtain clear running. Approaching the 400 Metres, BEAUTY SPIRIT was awkwardly placed close to the heels of TURIN REDSTAR as WINNING FAITH improved around BEAUTY SPIRIT. Close to the finishing line, SHARP SAILOR got its head on the side and lay in. When questioned, K C Ng (KING GENKI) stated that it was felt that tonight’s race would be run at a good tempo as there were a number of horses engaged in the race that had previously taken up a forward position in their races. He said he was therefore asked to obtain a position in about midfield or in front of midfield if possible from a wide barrier. He said on jumping he noticed that BEAUTY SPIRIT to his outside was being hard ridden and as LIMITLESS was being steadied to his inside, he shifted KING GENKI across in order to take up a midfield position. He said however that due to the makeup of the field he was unable to shift in closer than three horses from the rail and consequently travelled wide and without cover throughout the race. When questioned, A Sanna stated that after positioning WINNING FAITH towards the rear of the field in the early stages, he elected to commence improving his position around KING GENKI passing the 700 Metres. He said although the race was being run at a fair tempo at this time, he believed that horses coming from the rear of the field had found it difficult to make up ground in tonight’s races and therefore he considered the best option was to commence improving his position at this stage of the race rather than be required to make his run from the rear of the field much later in the race. He added whilst WINNING FAITH did not finish off the race over the final 100 Metres, he believed this was not due to him having to commence to ride it from the 700 Metres, rather he believed that WINNING FAITH did not back up after racing last Wednesday as the horse’s best performances appeared to have been when it was able to race with its runs spaced. A veterinary inspection of RIVET, STAR MAJESTIC and BEAUTY SPIRIT immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of MAGNETISM immediately following the race did not show any significant findings, however, the horse was unable to be scoped due to being fractious. CALCULATION, LIMITLESS and TURIN REDSTAR were sent for sampling.