15/04/2023  Shatin  Race 1

At declaration time, L Hewitson was declared as the rider of both INSPIRING CITY and APEX TOP. It was established that L Hewitson had a firm commitment to ride INSPIRING CITY. As such, the Stewards permitted L Ferraris to be substituted as the rider of APEX TOP. For this declaration error, Trainer D J Whyte was fined $2,000. INSPIRING CITY and ALLOY STAR jumped only fairly. EASY LIFE was slow to begin. From the outside barrier, FLYING GALLOP was shifted across behind runners in the early stages. From a wide barrier, VALHALLA was also shifted across behind runners in the early stages. Passing the 1000 Metres, ALLOY STAR, which was inclined to race keenly, was steadied to avoid VALHALLA (H Bowman) which shifted in when not clear. H Bowman was reprimanded. In assessing penalty, the Stewards found that as VALHALLA was being shifted in to obtain cover, ERNEST FEELING, which was racing in advance of VALHALLA, was steadied which resulted in VALHALLA having to be steadied at the same point. ALLOY STAR then continued to race keenly in the middle stages. After the 800 Metres, HEAVENLY THOUGHT was left racing wide and without cover. Near the 350 Metres, INSPIRING CITY was shifted to the inside of TOUCH FAITH in an attempt to obtain clear running, however, became held up between TOUCH FAITH and STAR OF YUEN LONG until near the 200 Metres. Near the 50 Metres, ONE STEP AHEAD turned its head to the right in an attempt to savage HEAVENLY THOUGHT. As ONE STEP AHEAD had previously attempted to savage on 11 March 2023, Trainer C W Chang was advised that ONE STEP AHEAD will be required to perform satisfactorily in a series of consecutive barrier trials amongst other runners before being allowed to race again. When questioned regarding his riding of ONE STEP AHEAD in the Straight, M Chadwick stated that at its previous start over 1400 Metres on 11 March 2023, ONE STEP AHEAD had peaked on its run and not run out a strong 1400 Metres. He said today he discussed with connections prior to the race that he would hold ONE STEP AHEAD up in the early part of the Straight for one run at the finish of the event. He added that in accordance with this discussion he followed HEAVENLY THOUGHT into the Straight and whilst there was an opportunity to shift to that runner’s outside to secure clear running sooner, having regard to the manner in which it had finished its race off at its recent starts, he elected to remain racing behind HEAVENLY THOUGHT until near the 200 Metres whereby he then shifted to the outside of that runner to secure clear running. Trainer C W Chang confirmed the instructions and the discussion with Jockey Chadwick prior to the running of the event and expressed satisfaction with the manner in which ONE STEP AHEAD was ridden in the Straight. After reviewing previous runs of ONE STEP AHEAD whereby it was confirmed that the horse’s run had peaked near the 150 Metres, the Stewards found the tactics adopted to be reasonable in the circumstances. After the race, A Hamelin (ERNEST FEELING) reported that his mount travelled well in a handy position and after being bumped by YOUNG SPARKLE near the 300 Metres did not finish the race off. A veterinary inspection of ERNEST FEELING immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. Also after the race, it was noted that TOUCH FAITH had blood at the right nostril. A subsequent endoscopic examination conducted on TOUCH FAITH confirmed the horse to have bled. A veterinary inspection of ALLOY STAR immediately following the race did not show any significant findings. GENERAL WINNER, APEX TOP and TOUCH FAITH were sent for sampling.