16/02/2020  Shatin  Race 3

After being loaded into the barriers, TELECOM ROCKET became fractious, reared and momentarily rested its left front foot on the front barrier gates. TELECOM ROCKET was removed from the barriers and examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was suitable to race. Before being allowed to race again, TELECOM ROCKET will be required to perform satisfactorily in a stalls test. As TELECOM ROCKET was being reloaded after being examined by the Veterinary Officer, PARTY EVERYDAY became fractious, reared and momentarily got its left front leg over the adjoining barrier partition. PARTY EVERYDAY was removed from the barriers and examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was also suitable to race. RICH AND LUCKY shifted out at the start and bumped CHEERFUL LEADER which then shifted out, resulting in FORTUNE PATROL being hampered. DESTIN and FAMILY LEADER bumped on jumping. From wide barriers, FAMILY LEADER and AMAZING SATCHMO were steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. AMAZING SATCHMO raced wide and without cover after the 800 Metres. Rounding the Home Turn and in the Straight, COPARTNER ERA got its head on the side and lay in when giving ground. In the Straight, PARTY EVERYDAY raced with its head on the side and lay out under pressure. HOME WIN travelled wide and without cover throughout the race and then lay in in the Straight when giving ground. When questioned, K Teetan stated that, from barrier 4, he was asked to obtain a forward position on WITNESS HUNTER and it was felt that the horse would be able to obtain a position behind the speed and in front of midfield. He said he rode his mount along in the early stages, however, WITNESS HUNTER did not show any early speed. He said when he had ridden WITNESS HUNTER previously, he made a lot of use of the horse in the early stages in an endeavour to obtain a forward position and it did not finish off the race and therefore today he did not believe it would be in the best interests of WITNESS HUNTER to make any further use of the horse in an endeavour to take up a more forward position. He said approaching the 1500 Metres he commenced to shift in to race outside EVER LAUGH as it appeared as though that horse was being shifted across to race on the rail. He said he had to ride WITNESS HUNTER along after the 1400 Metres as the horse was not maintaining its position and when EVER LAUGH remained racing in a position one horse away from the rail near the 1300 Metres, this resulted in WITNESS HUNTER being required to race three wide. He said passing the 1100 Metres EVER LAUGH shifted out which resulted in WITNESS HUNTER being awkwardly placed outside the heels of that horse and after this WITNESS HUNTER, despite being ridden along, did not travel well and raced much further back in the field than had been intended. He added WITNESS HUNTER travelled only fairly in the middle stages, however, when shifted to the outside of runners in the Straight finished off the race satisfactorily. A veterinary inspection of HOME WIN and COPARTNER ERA immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of PARTY EVERYDAY immediately following the race did not show any significant findings, however, the horse was unable to be scoped due to being fractious. CHEERFUL LEADER and EVER LAUGH were sent for sampling.