13/02/2008  Happy Valley  Race 8

BEAR MACHO began awkwardly, bounded in the air and lost ground. NIRVANA also bounded in the air at the start and lost ground. Making the turn at the 1000 Metres, NIRVANA was steadied when crowded for room inside BULB KING which had been hanging in and at this time shifted ground. GRAND STORE, which was following, was steadied in consequence. No action was taken. After straightening, when commencing to give ground, CANNONISE hung out. Prior to the declaration of weighed-in, the Stewards viewed the official video to ascertain whether BEAR MACHO had established rightful running between ISLAND SPEED and CONESTOGA before being checked near the 150 Metres. After viewing the official video, weighed-in was declared on the numbers as semaphored by the Judge. At a subsequent inquiry, C Soumillon (BEAR MACHO) explained after the 250 Metres when he commenced to make ground towards the inside, running appeared in advance of him between ISLAND SPEED and CONESTOGA (M W Leung). He said as he improved his position towards that run, CONESTOGA got its head on the side and commenced to shift in. He said shortly after the 200 Metres the running between ISLAND SPEED and CONESTOGA had closed before he had established running between those horses and as a consequence he checked his mount. He said when he did this BEAR MACHO became badly unbalanced and almost fell and in doing so bumped CONESTOGA on the hindquarters which also became unbalanced. As the Stewards concurred with C Soumillon's view that BEAR MACHO had not established rightful running at the time of the incident, no action was taken, however, M W Leung was told to ensure he does his utmost to protect his fellow riders. After this incident, BEAR MACHO was not ridden out to the line. Throughout the race, ADAIKALI travelled wide and without cover. W M Lai (BULB KING) reported his horse which was fractious at the start knuckled on jumping, then felt uncomfortable in its action and hung in. He said because of this he did not ride along in the early stages. S K Sit (SUPERIOR UNIT) said he had been advised prior to the race that at the horse's two runs in Hong Kong, it had hung out badly on turns. He said because of this he was told to allow SUPERIOR UNIT to begin and then not ride along in the run to the first turn to ensure the horse was properly balanced. He said SUPERIOR UNIT began satisfactorily, he immediately steadied his mount which as a result got its head up and lost ground. He said then in accordance with his instructions he did not ride along making the turn at the 1000 Metres, however, after entering the Back Straight commenced to ride his mount along. He said SUPERIOR UNIT failed to make ground while being ridden along, however, as it was balanced making the turn at the 600 Metres he continued to ride his mount in an endeavour to make ground despite being instructed not to do so. He said in the Straight SUPERIOR UNIT kept on fairly. KINDACROSS and NIRVANA were sent for an official veterinary inspection. A veterinary inspection of KINDACROSS and NIRVANA after the race did not show any significant findings. GRAND STORE and BLUE GENES were sent for sampling. F Coetzee (KINDACROSS) will be afforded an opportunity of offering an explanation for the horse's poor performance at the Sha Tin racemeeting next Sunday 17 February 2008. Additional Veterinary Reports (released on 14 February 2008) NIRVANA, which performed poorly, was examined by the Veterinary Officer. He said at that time there were no significant findings. NIRVANA was again examined by the Veterinary Officer at the stables of Trainer C Fownes this morning. He said at this time he noted the horse to have sustained an injury to its right front tendon. Before being allowed to race again, NIRVANA will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.