05/10/2022  Happy Valley  Race 9

NOIR RIDER was withdrawn on raceday morning by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (laceration to right hind leg). Before being allowed to race again, NOIR RIDER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination. COLOURFUL BARON began awkwardly and was steadied in the early stages to obtain cover. IRON WILL lost ground when crowded for room on jumping between RATTAN KINGDOM which was brushed by YELLOWFIN and LUCKY GOR which shifted in on jumping. After this, LUCKY GOR and IRON WILL were shifted across behind runners to obtain cover. Also from the outside barrier, HARDLY SWEARS was steadied on jumping and shifted across behind runners. Making the turn after the 1100 Metres, WIND SPEEDER shifted in and brushed the running rail of its own accord. VAMOS travelled keenly in the early and middle stages and proved very difficult to settle. Then approaching and passing the 600 Metres, VAMOS continued to race keenly and was awkwardly placed behind YELLOWFIN. Near the 1050 Metres, COLONEL got its head on the side, lay in and bumped YELLOWFIN. After the 700 Metres, RATTAN KINGDOM was left racing wide and without cover. After being crossed by COLONEL after the 700 Metres, YELLOWFIN travelled keenly and was very awkwardly placed close to the heels of COLONEL after the 600 Metres. In the Straight, COLONEL hung in under pressure. WIND SPEEDER lost its right front plate after the race. When questioned regarding his riding of GOODLUCK GOODLUCK after the 600 Metres, K C Leung stated that he was able to improve his position forward of YELLOWFIN near the 550 Metres to race outside the hindquarters of COLONEL. He said passing the 500 Metres YELLOWFIN clipped the heels of COLONEL and shifted out. He said whilst he was concerned with the proximity of YELLOWFIN to the heels of COLONEL at the time that YELLOWFIN shifted out, he felt that in order to ensure that YELLOWFIN was not able to shift out from behind COLONEL, he would have had to ride his mount along to maintain his position. He said this would have resulted in GOODLUCK GOODLUCK having to be ridden along from the 500 Metres and he did not believe that if he did this, GOODLUCK GOODLUCK would have the best opportunity to finish the race off as it would have had to make a sustained run. He added that whilst it was not ideal for GOODLUCK GOODLUCK to be shifted to a three wide position after the 500 Metres, most of tonight’s winners had finished away from the rail so he was not concerned that being three wide rounding the Home Turn would present as a reason for GOODLUCK GOODLUCK then not being able to finish the race off in the Straight. A veterinary inspection of WIND SPEEDER immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. A veterinary inspection of PRIDE OF EIGHT immediately following the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of mucus in the horse’s trachea. YELLOWFIN, LUCKY GOR and RATTAN KINGDOM were sent for sampling.