22/05/2019  Happy Valley  Race 6

HONEST WAY was withdrawn on 21.5.19 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter BALLISTIC KING (M L Yeung). Before being allowed to race again, HONEST WAY will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. After being loaded into the barriers, CALIFORNIA ARGENT became very fractious, lunged at the front gates and in doing so broke open the front gates. K Teetan, the rider of CALIFORNIA ARGENT, was dislodged in this incident and CALIFORNIA ARGENT then proceeded riderless for some distance. As CALIFORNIA ARGENT took some time to be captured, the field was removed from the barriers and which resulted in a delay to the start of the race. Acting on veterinary advice that CALIFORNIA ARGENT was not suitable to race, the horse was withdrawn by order of the Stewards. Before being allowed to race again, CALIFORNIA ARGENT will be required to perform satisfactorily in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. After the race, K Teetan was examined by the Chief Medical Officer and passed fit to fulfil his remaining race riding engagements. GOLDEN DASH shifted out at the start, resulting in LOVING A BOOM bumping PLANET STAR, causing both those horses to be hampered. MANNA FROM HEAVEN was checked when crowded for room on jumping between ELITE PATCH and MIGHTY MAVERICK which got its head on the side and shifted in. In this incident, ELITE PATCH and in particular MIGHTY MAVERICK became unbalanced. After this, MANNA FROM HEAVEN was shifted across behind runners. Also from a wide barrier, BALLISTIC KING was shifted across behind runners in the early stages to obtain cover. In the early stages, MIGHTY MAVERICK was steadied from the outside barrier, however, was unable to obtain cover and for the majority of the race travelled wide and without cover. At the entrance to the Straight, PLANET STAR raced tight outside SHANGHAI MASTER which shifted to the outside of CEREFINO to obtain clear running. At the 300 Metres, BALLISTIC KING was shifted in away from the heels of GOLDEN DASH to obtain clear running. Passing the 200 Metres, GOLDEN DASH was shifted to the inside of PLANET STAR after being disappointed for running outside that horse which lay out under pressure. Close to the finishing line, SHANGHAI MASTER raced tight inside the hindquarters of PLANET STAR. CEREFINO lost its left front plate after the race. A veterinary inspection of STARLIGHT immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. LOVING A BOOM and PLANET STAR were sent for sampling.