09/01/2022  Shatin  Race 4

As the start was effected, AEROSONIC turned its head to the left and consequently began awkwardly, causing AEROSONIC to lose ground. INGENIOUS FELLOW shifted out at the start and bumped BRAVE POWER. DRAGON PRIDE shifted out towards the heels of ALL BEST FRIENDS on jumping. From a wide barrier, VICTORIOUS LEADER was steadied in the early stages to obtain cover. Passing the 1300 Metres, GO GO SIXTEEN was awkwardly placed close to the heels of ALL BEST FRIENDS which shifted in before being directed out abruptly to relieve the crowding to GO GO SIXTEEN. When being steadied in an attempt to obtain cover in the early stages, SEA MONARCH proved very difficult to settle and got its head up on a number of occasions. SEA MONARCH then travelled wide and without cover throughout. Mr W Y So, the trainer of SEA MONARCH, explained that as the horse had not been finishing its races off when ridden in a forward position, he directed M L Yeung from the outside barrier to steady SEA MONARCH in the early stages and obtain cover in the hope that being ridden more patiently would allow the horse the opportunity to finish the race off better than it had been of late. Throughout the race, ALL BEST FRIENDS also travelled wide and without cover. After the 800 Metres, SMILING FACE was awkwardly placed behind INGENIOUS FELLOW. Near the 750 Metres, INGENIOUS FELLOW shifted out away from the heels of SEIZE THE SPIRIT when travelling keenly, resulting in ALL BEST FRIENDS being taken wider. Near the 650 Metres, INGENIOUS FELLOW shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of ALL BEST FRIENDS, resulting in both INGENIOUS FELLOW and ALL BEST FRIENDS becoming unbalanced and INGENIOUS FELLOW shifting in and bumping VICTORIOUS LEADER. Approaching the 500 Metres, BRAVE POWER raced tight between DESTIN and DRAGON PRIDE which shifted out away from the heels of SMILING FACE. Passing the 300 Metres, GO GO SIXTEEN was hampered when taken wider by ALL BEST FRIENDS which was carried out by INGENIOUS FELLOW (L Ferraris) which shifted out. L Ferraris was told to ensure that in similar circumstances he makes more effort to correct his mounts than he did on this occasion. SMILING FACE, which was following ALL BEST FRIENDS, was inconvenienced in consequence when disappointed for running between that horse and GO GO SIXTEEN. Approaching the 300 Metres, DRAGON PRIDE was shifted to the inside of VICTORIOUS LEADER to obtain clear running. At the 250 Metres, VICTORIOUS LEADER was directed out away from behind SEIZE THE SPIRIT to obtain clear running. When questioned regarding the performance of BRAVE POWER, C Y Ho stated that after obtaining a position in about midfield in the early stages, BRAVE POWER was not suited by the moderate tempo of the race in the middle stages. He said he was following SMILING FACE after the 900 Metres and when that horse was awkwardly placed behind runners in front, this resulted in BRAVE POWER being taken back through the field and rounding the Home Turn was positioned towards the tail of the field. He said he attempted to shift BRAVE POWER to the outside of runners in the early part of the Straight as BRAVE POWER has finished off its races when able to obtain clear and uninterrupted running, however, due to DESTIN being positioned to BRAVE POWER’s outside rounding the Home Turn, he was unable to shift his mount to the outside of runners. He said whilst he was able to ride BRAVE POWER out in the Straight, the horse was reluctant to fully stretch out when having to race behind runners. He added that near the 100 Metres he was able to shift BRAVE POWER to the outside of SEA MONARCH and after this BRAVE POWER made up some ground. He said whilst the horse’s run today appeared disappointing, he was of the opinion that the circumstances of the race resulted in BRAVE POWER not being able to finish off the race strongly. A veterinary inspection of GO GO SIXTEEN and BRAVE POWER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. BRAVE POWER, SUPER KIN and DRAGON PRIDE were sent for sampling.