28/09/2022  Happy Valley  Race 8

NEARLY FINE was crowded for room on jumping between BLASTOISE and SUPER OASIS which shifted out after being bumped on the hindquarters by SUPERBELLA. After this, NEARLY FINE was shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. SUPERBELLA lost its left front plate in this incident. Near the 1600 Metres, ROBOT WARRIOR raced tight inside SUPERBELLA which got its head on the side and shifted in away from SUPER OASIS. At the entrance to the Straight, SUPERBELLA had some difficulty obtaining clear running and then passing the 300 Metres lay in and was awkwardly placed close to the heels of BLASTOISE. After the 300 Metres, ROMANTIC COMBO shifted in and brushed S J TOURBILLON. Throughout the race, SUPER OASIS travelled wide and without cover. When questioned, C Wong stated that he was instructed to obtain the lead on PERFECT MARYKNOLL or to race outside the lead. He said from barrier 10 he had to make a lot of use of PERFECT MARYKNOLL for a considerable distance in the early stages to cross runners to its inside and it was not until after passing the winning post on the first occasion that he was able to shift in across to race in the lead. He said because of the amount of use that he had to make of PERFECT MARYKNOLL, this resulted in the early sections of the race being run at a fast tempo. He said after crossing to race in the lead, he attempted to steady the tempo without excessively restraining his mount so as to ensure that he did not cause interference behind him. He added that whilst he was aware that the tempo after the 1200 Metres was faster than he had hoped, he was unaware that PERFECT MARYKNOLL was maintaining a margin over the rest of the field. C Wong was advised that, in the opinion of the Stewards, after making so much use of PERFECT MARYKNOLL in the early stages to obtain the lead, he should have made more of an effort to steady the tempo after the 1200 Metres so as to ensure that PERFECT MARYKNOLL was provided with the best opportunity to finish the race off. A veterinary inspection of SUPERBELLA and SUPER OASIS immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. NEARLY FINE and COMET SPLENDIDO were sent for sampling.