15/02/2023  Happy Valley  Race 9

ZONE D jumped awkwardly, made contact with the left side of its barrier and lost ground. Shortly after the start, MASTER TORNADO was bumped by STAR CONTACT which shifted in. From a wide barrier, GALLANT WAKING, which jumped awkwardly, was shifted across behind runners in the early stages and raced keenly in the middle stages. HAPPY DAILY made the turn near the 1000 Metres awkwardly. NIMBLE NIMBUS raced wide and without cover until near the 900 Metres after which ATOMIC BEAUTY was left racing wide and without cover for the remainder of the event. Soon after straightening, ZONE D shifted out and made contact with GALLANT WAKING, resulting in both runners becoming momentarily unbalanced. Near the 250 Metres, NIMBLE NIMBUS improved into a narrow run between BEAUTY TURN and MASTER TORNADO and as a result made contact with MASTER TORNADO when that runner shifted in. NIMBLE NIMBUS and MASTER TORNADO continued to make contact for some distance thereafter when BEAUTY TURN then shifted out slightly. After the 250 Metres, STAR CONTACT became awkwardly placed behind MASTER TORNADO and shifted out, resulting in ATOMIC BEAUTY being steadied away from the heels of STAR CONTACT. When questioned regarding his riding of BEAUTY TURN, H Bentley confirmed that his instructions, with the horse stepping up in distance tonight and drawing the inside barrier, were to endeavour to lead as it had raced in a similar position outside the lead at its most recent barrier trial on 28 January 2023. He said with this in mind, in the early stages he was able to position BEAUTY TURN in the lead and when LOYAL BABY improved to his outside near the 1200 Metres, he initially was of the view that that runner would settle outside his mount and as a consequence, to comply with his instructions, he endeavoured to maintain the lead. He added that after entering the Back Straight near the 900 Metres, he became concerned that the pace was too quick and as LOYAL BABY was travelling strongly to his outside, he then elected to allow that runner to cross his mount passing the 900 Metres so as to avoid setting too fast a tempo. A veterinary inspection of LOYAL BABY and MASTER TORNADO immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. JUMBO LEGEND, NIMBLE NIMBUS and GALLANT WAKING were sent for sampling.