19/06/2022  Shatin  Race 10

DELIGHTFUL LAOS was slow to begin. POWERFUL WINGS began only fairly. DARCI JOY began awkwardly and bumped the outside of its gate and in doing so shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of ORIENTAL SMOKE. From the outside barriers, LEADING FORTUNE and VICTORY PARK were shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Approaching the 600 Metres, SECRET VISION was bumped by HIT THE SHOT which improved into tight running between that horse and NEARLY FINE which itself shifted to the outside of POWERFUL WINGS. This resulted in HIT THE SHOT and SECRET VISION becoming unbalanced on a number of occasions. Passing the 500 Metres, TEMPEST EXPRESS raced tight between DARCI JOY and SUPER OASIS. At the entrance to the Straight, POWERFUL WINGS was held up for clear running behind ORIENTAL SMOKE. When questioned, M Chadwick (MASSIVE ACTION) stated that he was instructed to lead today’s race if possible, however, it was anticipated that EXCEPTIONAL NICE, DARCI JOY and ORIENTAL SMOKE may be ridden to obtain forward positions and therefore he was told that rather than engage in a speed battle with any of those horses, it was acceptable for him to take a trailing position. He said in the early stages EXCEPTIONAL NICE was ridden positively to maintain the lead on the rail and he believed that he would have had to make too much use of MASSIVE ACTION to try and cross that horse. He said he therefore elected in the early stages to remain racing to the outside of EXCEPTIONAL NICE. He said after the 1400 Metres ORIENTAL SMOKE improved to the outside of MASSIVE ACTION and rather than ride his mount along to prevent ORIENTAL SMOKE from crossing, he decided to take a trailing position. He said as a gap existed behind EXCEPTIONAL NICE and in advance of POWERFUL WINGS, he shifted his mount across to race behind EXCEPTIONAL NICE after the 1100 Metres. He added that MASSIVE ACTION did not travel strongly in the middle stages and then when being shifted to the outside of EXCEPTIONAL NICE lay in behind that horse and was reluctant to shift away from the rail. He said he continued to persevere to have MASSIVE ACTION shift away from behind EXCEPTIONAL NICE and it was not until after the 300 Metres that he was able to shift to that horse’s outside. He said he placed MASSIVE ACTION under pressure at this time and the horse again lay in behind EXCEPTIONAL NICE. He said after this MASSIVE ACTION continued to lay in under pressure and proved difficult to ride and then over the latter stages gave ground. He said based on the manner in which the horse raced today and particularly its inclination to lay in, in his opinion, MASSIVE ACTION may be best suited at this stage of its career by being able to obtain the rail in the lead. M Chadwick was told that his explanation would be reported, however, in the opinion of the Stewards, he should have made more effort than he did to remain racing outside EXCEPTIONAL NICE rather than shifting across behind that horse. A veterinary inspection of MASSIVE ACTION immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of SUPER OASIS immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. SECRET VISION and POWERFUL WINGS were sent for sampling.