24/10/2021  Shatin  Race 9

LUCKY WITH YOU was withdrawn 23.10.21 on by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right hind) and was replaced by first Standby Declared Starter CALIFORNIA SPANGLE (Z Purton). BIG FORTUNE was also withdrawn on 23.10.21 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (right front suspensory ligament injury) and was replaced by second Standby Declared Starter BRIGHT KID (H W Lai). Before being allowed to race again, LUCKY WITH YOU and BIG FORTUNE will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. GLORIFIED FIRE and DUBLIN STAR bumped at the start. CALIFORNIA SPANGLE began only fairly and then had to be ridden along for some distance to obtain the lead. When questioned, A Badel stated that passing the 300 Metres LOCKHEED commenced to close off the race strongly. He said after the 200 Metres he commence to use the whip on LOCKHEED and he immediately sensed the horse was resenting the whip as it lay in towards GLUCK RACER and appeared to be reluctant to continue to improve its position. He said for this reason he desisted in using the whip and rode LOCKHEED out vigorously hands and heels over the concluding stages. He added when he did this, LOCKHEED responded positively to the whip not being used and finished off the race well over the concluding stages. When questioned, J Moreira (FIVE ELEMENTS) stated that passing the 400 Metres he commenced to use the whip in the left hand and FIVE ELEMENTS commenced to lay in towards ROCK YA HEART which was improving into tight running between FIVE ELEMENTS and CALIFORNIA SPANGLE. He said for this reason he changed his whip over into his right hand passing the 300 Metres and after FIVE ELEMENTS initially wanted to lay out he was able to commence using the whip in the right hand until near the 200 Metres at which stage the horse commenced to lay out towards GLUCK RACER. He said at this time he put the whip away and straightened FIVE ELEMENTS and the horse then commenced to race more tractably. He added as FIVE ELEMENTS was racing more genuinely, he again used the whip in the right hand approaching the 100 Metres, however, once again FIVE ELEMENTS shifted out which resulted in him having to stop riding and correct his mount. He said given the manner in which FIVE ELEMENTS, which was having only its second race start in Hong Kong, was racing at this time, he elected to put the whip away and rode the horse out vigorously hands and heels to the end of the race. He further stated that FIVE ELEMENTS also lay out under pressure at its first start in Hong Kong, however, as he had the whip in the left hand, he was able to continue to ride it out as no other runners were positioned directly to his outside at this time. He added, in his opinion, FIVE ELEMENTS is still immature which he anticipates will improve with racing. A veterinary inspection of GLUCK RACER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. ROCK YA HEART and CALIFORNIA SPANGLE were sent for sampling.