26/10/2008  Shatin  Race 2

After arriving at the Start, it was noted FAST GO had blood present at its mouth. FAST GO was examined by the Veterinary Officer who said in his opinion it was suitable to race. DRAGON BOY bounded in the air at the start and lost ground. FAST GO was slow into stride. Near the 1200 Metres, FAST GO got its head up when awkwardly placed inside the heels of YOUNG ELITE. At the 1000 Metres, STORM’S DESTINY was steadied away from the heels of JOHNSON which when proving difficult to settle shifted in. Making the turn at the 800 Metres, GREEN GLORY was steadied when awkwardly placed inside the heels of STORM’S DESTINY which in turn was awkwardly placed inside JOHNSON. After the 800 Metres, GREEN GLORY was not able to maintain its position when racing tight inside HERE WE GO which was hanging in. Passing the 500 Metres, NEW CHAPTER jumped a mark on the track. At the 350 Metres, STEEL NERVES was inconvenienced by STORM’S DESTINY which became unbalanced when shifted in momentarily. At the 200 Metres, Apprentice K C Leung (STORM’S DESTINY) dropped his whip. In the Straight, YOUNG ELITE hung in. At the 50 Metres, LUCKY DRAGON was steadied to avoid the heels of YOUNG ELITE (O Doleuze) which shifted in while continuing to hang. O Doleuze was reprimanded and told to exercise greater care. When questioned, H W Lai (WITHALLMYHEART) said from the outside barrier he was instructed to allow the horse to travel comfortably in a position with cover if possible. He said he was told he should not ride along in the early stages as it was felt the horse would not finish the race off if use was made of it to cross from the outside barrier. He said WITHALLMYHEART began better than he expected which resulted in him coming back on the horse’s mouth and as a consequence got its head up. He said after this he did not ride along as instructed and took his mount back in an endeavour to obtain a position with cover. He said as a consequence WITHALLMYHEART travelled just behind midfield. He said after the 1200 Metres he continued to race wide and without cover and as he was concerned the horse was getting too far out of its ground, he then rode along and after the 1000 Metres was able to obtain a position with cover behind JOHNSON. He said WITHALLMYHEART travelled only fairly in the run and in the Straight kept on one-paced. Mr T K Ng, trainer of WITHALLMYHEART, confirmed the riding instructions issued to H W Lai and explained whilst the horse possesses sufficient speed to lead races when racing without blinkers, use needs to be made of WITHALLMYHEART to go forward. He said as WITHALLMYHEART has aged, it has failed to finish its races off after being made use of in the early stages. He said because of this this preparation WITHALLMYHEART has not been ridden to lead. H W Lai was told given the manner in which WITHALLMYHEART began and in what was anticipated to be a slowly run race, he should have allowed his mount to travel forward without being ridden along to do so. He was also told to have ridden his horse in this manner would not have been riding against the instructions issued to him. K L Chui (HERE WE GO) said he had been instructed to ride the horse in a midfield position, the same as it had been in its recent start. He said HERE WE GO in the early part of its career showed good natural speed, however, more recently and particularly over 1400 Metres did not show natural speed to take up a forward position. He said therefore it was felt the horse is best suited being permitted to travel where it is comfortable which is around midfield. CARRY GOOD NEWS was sent for an official veterinary inspection. A veterinary inspection of CARRY GOOD NEWS after the race did not show any significant findings. COSMO SUCCESSOR and NEW CHAPTER were sent for sampling. After the race, the Veterinary Officer reported that HERE WE GO had bled from both nostrils.