26/06/2019  Happy Valley  Race 6

STIMULATION began only fairly and then lost ground after shifting out and bumping the hindquarters of BIG BANG BONG. After this, STIMULATION failed to muster speed and raced back in the field. PERFECT TO PLAY, FLYING QUEST, LET’S TAKE IT EASY and SHOUSON were all steadied in the early stages from wide barriers to obtain cover. After being ridden along in an attempt to obtain a forward position, FARSHAD was steadied to obtain cover approaching the winning post on the first occasion and when doing so commenced to travel keenly, shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of ACCLAIMED LIGHT, causing both horses, particularly FARSHAD, to become unbalanced. Then making the turn after passing the winning post on the first occasion, FARSHAD got its head up when being steadied away from the heels of XIANG BAI QI. Rounding the Home Turn, RICKFIELD raced in restricted room between FARSHAD and XIANG BAI QI which shifted out away from the heels of ACCLAIMED LIGHT. At the entrance to the Straight, XIANG BAI QI and HEAVENLY THOUGHT raced tight. When questioned, Z Purton stated that, from barrier 10, the connections were undecided as to how WIN WIN should be ridden, particularly given that there did not appear to be a great deal of speed in the race. He said it was therefore left to him as to how to ride WIN WIN dependent on how the horse began. He said WIN WIN began very well and he was able to immediately shift in in the early stages to race outside BIG BANG BONG. He said he felt that BIG BANG BONG would have sufficient speed to be able to cross runners to its inside approaching and passing the winning post on the first occasion and he had intended to shift across with that horse and race outside BIG BANG BONG. He said despite being ridden along for a considerable distance in the early stages, BIG BANG BONG did not show as much early speed as anticipated and it therefore took that horse a considerable distance to be able to cross to race outside the lead. He said when BIG BANG BONG shifted in to race outside ACCLAIMED LIGHT approaching the 1100 Metres, WIN WIN was left racing in a three wide position without cover and he therefore allowed the horse to improve into the lead near the 1000 Metres. He said after obtaining the lead, WIN WIN relaxed well and because of this, although he had made considerable use of the horse in the early stages, he still anticipated that it would quicken in the early part of the Straight. He said WIN WIN came under pressure rounding the Home Turn and after quickening satisfactorily in the early part of the Straight came under heavy pressure and weakened over the latter stages of the race. He said this was due to the horse having to be ridden in a forward position due to the circumstances of the race in the early stages. Trainer T P Yung confirmed that due to the anticipated lack of speed in the race, he had asked Jockey Purton to ride WIN WIN according to the manner in which it began. He said nonetheless he did not anticipate that the horse would lead and he attributed to the horse’s failure to finish off the race due to being ridden more forward than had previously been the case. Mr Yung advised the Stewards that, wherever possible, he will have WIN WIN ridden more conservatively in its future starts. Whilst the Stewards were cognizant of the fact that WIN WIN was ridden in a more prominent position tonight than had been the case, nonetheless the performance of the horse, which weakened to finish at the tail of the field as favourite and as a last start winner, was considered unacceptable. Before being allowed to race again, WIN WIN will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination. A veterinary inspection of WIN WIN immediately following the race did not show any significant findings, however, the horse was unable to be scoped due to being fractious. After the race, U Rispoli stated that BIG BANG BONG’s failure to finish off the race could be attributed to the strong pace in the early stages and the amount of use that he had to make of the horse in order to cross runners to his inside. A veterinary inspection of BIG BANG BONG immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. WIN WIN, FLYING QUEST and PERFECT TO PLAY were sent for sampling.