03/10/2018  Happy Valley  Race 3

On arrival at the Start, Z Purton expressed concern over the action of BUNDLE OF ENERGY. An examination of BUNDLE OF ENERGY conducted by the Veterinary Officer was not able to detect any significant abnormalities. Z Purton notified the Veterinary Officer that he was not comfortable to ride BUNDLE OF ENERGY and accordingly the horse was withdrawn from this race by order of the Stewards. Prior to being permitted to race again, BUNDLE OF ENERGY will be required to perform satisfactorily in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. TRUE GRIT, which was fractious in the barriers, was slow to begin. PEARL WARM WARM began only fairly. In the early stages, VICTORY FOLLOW ME and GENTRY were steadied and shifted across behind runners. When the pace slackened after the 900 Metres, MEGATRON commenced to prove difficult to settle and shifted out away from the heels of CURLING LUXURY into a position three wide and without cover. MEGATRON was then allowed to stride forward and sit outside the leader CAPTAIN BOSS at the 600 Metres. For some distance after passing the 700 Metres, LITTLE ISLAND and WAH MAY BABY raced tight and made contact on a number of occasions as LITTLE ISLAND attempted to improve to the outside of the heels of CURLING LUXURY and K Teetan, the rider of WAH MAY BABY, endeavoured to maintain his positon on the back of MEGATRON. On the Home Turn, ELECTRIC LIGHTNING was awkwardly placed close to the heels of CAPTAIN BOSS and then was directed to the inside of that horse at the entrance to the Straight to obtain clear running. Passing the 200 Metres, the whip of G van Niekerk, the rider of MEGATRON, became caught under the arm of K C Ng, the rider of CURLING LUXURY. After the race, G van Niekerk stated that due to the manner in which the race was run, he was obliged to make a mid-race move on MEGATRON to join the leader CAPTAIN BOSS. He said however that MEGATRON came under pressure after the 600 Metres, did not respond to his riding thereafter and was disappointing. A veterinary inspection of MEGATRON immediately following the race did not show any significant findings, however, the horse was unable to be scoped due to being fractious. IMPECCABLE FELLOW and CAPTAIN BOSS were sent for sampling.