17/02/2019  Shatin  Race 4

KEY WITNESS was withdrawn on 15.2.19 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter WONDERFUL JOURNEY (M F Poon). Before being allowed to race again, KEY WITNESS will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. As the start was effected, MASTER ALBERT lifted its front feet off the ground and consequently was slow to begin. FIRST RESPONDER began only fairly. THE ABRAXAS was hampered on jumping by AMAZING CHOCOLATE which shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of THE ABRAXAS which was also crowded for room inside AEROHAPPINESS (J Moreira) which began awkwardly and shifted in. AEROHAPPINESS lost its left front plate a short distance after the start. A veterinary inspection of AEROHAPPINESS immediately following the race found that horse to have sustained an overreach wound to the inside of the left front heel. After the race, J Moreira stated that, in his opinion, the disappointing performance of AEROHAPPINESS could be attributed to this incident at the start. He said he expected AEROHAPPINESS to take up a forward position easily in the early stages, however, he had to ride his mount along for some distance to be able to clear runners to its inside to obtain a position one horse off the rail after the 900 Metres. He said, in his opinion, the injury sustained by AEROHAPPINESS at the start accounted for the horse’s lack of speed in the early stages and then not being able to finish off the race. He added whilst AEROHAPPINESS was not obviously lame after the race, he believed that the injury sustained by the horse was sufficient to explain its failure to close off. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that THE ABRAXAS had sustained an overreach wound to the inside of the left front heel. From a wide barrier, VILLA FIONN was steadied and shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Passing the 700 Metres, HARD PROMISE was awkwardly placed close to the heels of THE ABRAXAS. LUCKY HERO travelled wide and without cover until near the 600 Metres. Passing the 150 Metres, AMAZING CHOCOLATE raced in restricted room when improving into tight running between FIRST RESPONDER and AEROHAPPINESS which shifted out marginally under pressure. Near the 100 Metres, WONDERFUL JOURNEY was hampered when racing tight outside the heels of LUCKY HERO (Z Purton) which shifted out under pressure. Z Purton was severely reprimanded and advised in similar circumstances he would be expected to stop riding and straighten his mounts. In the Straight, MANNA FROM HEAVEN lay in and was reluctant to shift away from the rail to improve outside THE ABRAXAS. After the race, an endoscopic examination was conducted on LUCKY HERO at the request of Trainer C S Shum. The Veterinary Surgeon reported that this examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse's trachea. Before being allowed to race again, LUCKY HERO will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. HARD PROMISE and LUCKY HERO were sent for sampling.