14/07/2021  Happy Valley  Race 5

RED IMPACT and PRIME STAR bumped at the start. BLAZING BEAT began only fairly, shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of MANNA FROM HEAVEN, resulting in both horses becoming unbalanced and BLAZING BEAT losing ground. When MANNA FROM HEAVEN became unbalanced, it shifted out and bumped ON EXCEL STAR. SUN OF MAKFI began awkwardly. From the outside barriers, SUPER FAST, CHARIZARD and ZHAN JIANG ROCKS were all shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Near the 1150 Metres, ON EXCEL STAR momentarily raced in restricted room between RED IMPACT and MANNA FROM HEAVEN. Near the 1050 Metres, LAND POWER and PRIME STAR bumped. LAND POWER then shifted out, resulting in CHEERFUL LEADER shifting out away from that horse, causing MANNA FROM HEAVEN to be inconvenienced. ON EXCEL STAR, which was following, was hampered in consequence. After this, CHEERFUL LEADER was left racing wide and without cover. Passing the 500 Metres, ZHAN JIANG ROCKS and SUN OF MAKFI raced tight as SUN OF MAKFI improved into tight running between ZHAN JIANG ROCKS and STRIVE FOR GLORY. Passing the 400 Metres, ZHAN JIANG ROCKS was awkwardly placed close to the heels of MANNA FROM HEAVEN. SUPER FAST, which was following, was shifted out away from the heels of ZHAN JIANG ROCKS in consequence. SUPER FAST, which was following, was shifted out away from the heels of ZHAN JIANG ROCKS in consequence. SUPER FAST then raced very close to the heels of MANNA FROM HEAVEN when being shifted to the outside of that horse after the 300 Metres. Approaching the 200 Metres, MANNA FROM HEAVEN was steadied away from the heels of ZHAN JIANG ROCKS which shifted out. At the 200 Metres, ON EXCEL STAR was eased away from the heels of CHARIZARD when racing in restricted room between that horse which shifted in and SUPER FAST. The Stewards deferred the declaration of weighed-in as they were of the prima facie view that an incident had occurred approaching the 100 Metres which cast sufficient doubt on whether RED IMPACT (C Y Ho) should be declared the winner. Subsequently Apprentice K H Chan, the rider of LAND POWER, which finished second, lodged a protest/objection against RED IMPACT being declared the winner alleging interference approaching the 100 Metres. After taking evidence from all parties concerned and after viewing the videos, it was established that in the early part of the Straight RED IMPACT had improved its position inside LAND POWER after initially racing behind that horse. As RED IMPACT was improving inside LAND POWER, LAND POWER commenced to shift in under pressure. It was further established that at the 120 Metres RED IMPACT and LAND POWER bumped as a result of RED IMPACT shifting out and LAND POWER also shifting in marginally under pressure. When RED IMPACT and LAND POWER bumped, Apprentice Chan dropped his whip. After this, both horses had clear and uninterrupted running over the concluding stages. As the Stewards were of the opinion that RED IMPACT had come from behind LAND POWER and that the contact between the horses had resulted from a shift from both runners, the protest/objection was overruled and weighed-in confirmed on the numbers semaphored by the Judge. After the race, J Moreira stated that it was intended for ON EXCEL STAR to be ridden in a forward position, however, the horse did not show as much early speed as anticipated and raced further back in the field than had been intended. He said when the pace of the race was only moderate after the 1300 Metres, ON EXCEL STAR raced keenly. He said ON EXCEL STAR did not travel on the bridle at any stage of the race and then failed to close off the race in the Straight. A veterinary inspection of ON EXCEL STAR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. SUN OF MAKFI, RED IMPACT and LAND POWER were sent for sampling.