03/05/2020  Shatin  Race 9

GOLDEN FOUR shifted out at the start and bumped CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE. LASTING FRIENDSHIP shifted in abruptly at the start and bumped FORZA ANGEL which was taken in onto SPICY GRILL which lost ground when steadied away from the heels of FORZA ANGEL. HARRIET JET shifted out at the start and made contact with the hindquarters of MOMENTUM HAPPY. From wide barriers, SAM’S LOVE, DRAGON PRIDE and WINWIN THIRTYTHREE were all steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners. Despite being ridden along in the early stages, SPRINT FORWARD was slow to muster speed. SPRINT FORWARD was then left racing wide and without cover after the 1100 Metres and near the 1000 Metres was steadied to obtain cover behind LASTING FRIENDSHIP. Then near the 900 Metres, SPRINT FORWARD lost ground when awkwardly placed close to the heels of LASTING FRIENDSHIP which was steadied in an attempt to obtain cover behind HARRIER JET. After this, LASTING FRIENDSHIP continued to travel wide and without cover due to DIAMOND KING maintaining its position to its inside. When LASTING FRIENDSHIP attempted to shift in behind HARRIER JET, DIAMOND KING was momentarily taken in, resulting in SPICY GRILL being crowded for room approaching the 700 Metres. SAM’S LOVE, which was following SPICY GRILL, was checked away from the heels of that horse in consequence. Near the 1150 Metres, SAM’S LOVE was crowded for room between SPICY GRILL and DRAGON PRIDE, both of which shifted ground. Then after the 1100 Metres, SAM’S LOVE was again awkwardly placed close to the heels of SPICY GRILL when racing tight inside DRAGON PRIDE. Near the 350 Metres, SPRINT FORWARD raced tight outside SPICY GRILL which shifted out. After the 300 Metres, HARRIER JET raced tight outside CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE which shifted out under pressure. Approaching the 150 Metres, SPICY GRILL was shifted in away from the heels of CARE FREE PRINCE to continue improving. Also approaching the 150 Metres, M F Poon (CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE) momentarily dropped his left rein. When questioned, Apprentice C Wong stated that he was asked to lead on CARE FREE PRINCE as he did last start when the horse was successful. He said in the early stages he had to ride CARE FREE PRINCE aggressively to cross runners to his inside which he was able to do after the 1300 Metres. He said passing the 1200 Metres he was racing immediately to the inside of MOMENTUM HAPPY. He said at this stage MOMENTUM HAPPY was travelling very strongly and showed more early speed than CARE FREE PRINCE. He said he initially attempted to maintain his position inside MOMENTUM HAPPY, however, the pace of the race at this time was good and as MOMENTUM HAPPY was clearly travelling better than CARE FREE PRINCE, he felt as though in order to maintain his position inside MOMENTUM HAPPY, he would have had to ride his mount aggressively and therefor he allowed MOMENTUM HAPPY to cross CARE FREE PRINCE after the 1000 Metres and shifted to that horse’s outside. A veterinary inspection of LASTING FRIENDSHIP, SPRINT FORWARD, CARE FREE PRINCE and WINWIN THIRTYTHREE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. PARTY GENIUS, MOMENTUM HAPPY and CIRCUIT NUMBER ONE were sent for sampling.