09/06/2021  Happy Valley  Race 3

TELECOM SMART began only fairly. EVER JOY and HARDLY SWEARS brushed at the start. ARES shifted out on jumping and hampered ALMIGHTY PEGASUS. AMAZEMENT (J Moreira) shifted out on jumping and hampered SURE WINNER. In this incident, J Moreira momentarily lost the use of his left stirrup iron. After this, from wide barriers, AMAZEMENT and SURE WINNER were steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. From the outside barrier, PRINCE OF BON BON was also steadied in the early stages to obtain cover. Shortly after the start, ICE LEGEND got its head on the side and lay in and inconvenienced ULTIMATE FOCUS which was awkwardly placed outside the heels of WINSTON’S LAD. Making the first turn near the 1050 Metres, EVER JOY got its head on the side and lay out. ALMIGHTY PEGASUS also made the turn near the 1050 Metres awkwardly and then near the 800 Metres was left racing wide and without cover. Passing the 800 Metres, ULTIMATE FOCUS got its head up when travelling keenly and awkwardly placed behind WINSTON’S LAD. After this, ULTIMATE FOCUS continued to travel keenly and shifted out after the 700 Metres, resulting in AMAZEMENT being momentarily awkwardly placed inside the heels of TELECOM SMART. Passing the 450 Metres, ULTIMATE FOCUS became badly unbalanced and lost ground when reluctant to maintain its position inside HARDLY SWEARS. SURE WINNER, which was following ULTIMATE FOCUS, was inconvenienced in consequence. In the early part of the Straight, ICE LEGEND got its head on the side and lay in and was reluctant to improve to the outside of EVER JOY. After being shifted to the outside of EVER JOY at the 250 Metres, ICE LEGEND then continued to lay in under pressure for the remainder of the race. After the race, an endoscopic examination was conducted on HARDLY SWEARS at the request of Trainer K H Ting. The Veterinary Surgeon said this examination showed a substantial amount of mucus in the horse’s trachea. TELECOM SMART and ARES were sent for sampling.