Recap by phillip woo

Mighty Equus settled midfield along the fence, stayed to the inside upon straightening and quickened nicely to take control approaching the 100m for an upset win. Winning Talent settled at the rear from a wide gate, swung the final bend widest out and let down willingly to produce a gargantuan Quinella result. Super Sprinter travelled second from the rear after a slow break, checked off heels to have one outside him at the 250m and finished strongly to add more spice to the tierce. Yo-Yo Da settled fifth along the fence, eased out coming to the final bend and kept grinding away to hold down a Quartet spot. Supreme Flight worked to the lead along the fence at the 900m, was narrowly headed by Circuit King 700m out and kept grinding away to just edge that one for a minor pay cheque. Circuit King poked his head in front one off the fence at the 700m and was grudgingly giving way off a big weight at the 150m. Step Faster only held his ground following a rails run behind midfield. Fabio failed to let down after a one-off run travelling ahead of midfield. Trendiful was handy in the run, but gave up the chase after getting hampered by Pure Momentum 450m out.

Racing Incident Report

Race Three: (484)-MAN YIU HANDICAP - Class 4 - 1200Metres

MODERN FORTUNE was withdrawn on 15.3.16 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter NOBLE BUDDIES (Y T Cheng).

Before being allowed to race again, MODERN FORTUNE will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.

NOBLE BUDDIES began awkwardly and was slow to begin.

As the start was effected, SUPER SPRINTER lifted its front feet off the ground and consequently lost ground.

YO-YO DA shifted out at the start and bumped MIGHTY EQUUS.

From a wide barrier, WINNING TALENT was shifted across behind runners in the early stages.

Approaching the 1000 Metres, FABIO shifted out and was momentarily awkwardly placed close to the heels of CIRCUIT KING.

Passing the 1000 Metres, NOBLE BUDDIES was awkwardly placed close to the heels of MIGHTY EQUUS.

Near the 600 Metres, PURE MOMENTUM shifted in and raced tight outside the hindquarters of CIRCUIT KING.

Near the 500 Metres, YO-YO DA raced in restricted room inside TRENDIFUL.

Passing the 500 Metres, TRENDIFUL (Z Purton) momentarily raced tight between YO-YO DA and PURE MOMENTUM (Apprentice K K Chiong) which shifted in marginally.

After this, TRENDIFUL became unbalanced after making contact with YO-YO DA, got its head on the side and shifted out abruptly across the heels of PURE MOMENTUM and was consequently checked.

When TRENDIFUL was checked, FABIO shifted out abruptly away from the heels of that horse and bumped STEP FASTER, taking that horse wider.

The Stewards advised Apprentice Chiong that whilst, in the opinion of the Stewards, the degree of the shift of PURE MOMENTUM was not such that a careless riding charge should be issued, nonetheless she was severely reprimanded and told that she must leave comfortable racing room for runners to her inside in similar circumstances.

Z Purton stated that after this TRENDIFUL gave ground abruptly and did not appear comfortable in its action.

A veterinary inspection of TRENDIFUL immediately following the race including an endoscopic examination showed a substantial amount of blood in the horse's trachea.

The performance of TRENDIFUL, which finished tailed out, was considered unacceptable.

Before being allowed to race again, TRENDIFUL will be required to perform to the satisfaction of the Stewards in a barrier trial and be subjected to an official veterinary examination.

Rounding the Home Turn, WINNING BOY was shifted out away from the heels of TRENDIFUL which was giving ground.

Passing the 300 Metres, WINNING BOY was then shifted to the outside of FABIO after being disappointed for running between PURE MOMENTUM and FABIO which shifted in.

SUPER SPRINTER, which was improving to the outside of WINNING BOY, shifted out abruptly away from that horse near the 250 Metres.

WINNING TALENT hung in under pressure after the 150 Metres.

Close to the finishing line, CIRCUIT KING became unbalanced.

Throughout the race, PURE MOMENTUM travelled wide and without cover.

When questioned regarding the improved performance of MIGHTY EQUUS, Trainer P F Yiu stated that since its last start failure he had barrier trialed the horse and, in his opinion, this trial was pleasing as the horse closed off strongly.

He said MIGHTY EQUUS was down in body weight tonight and appeared to appreciate the good tempo of the race which allowed it to finish off strongly.

He said he was also of the view that MIGHTY EQUUS benefitted by being able to make its run inside horses as it is his opinion that the horse performs best when able to be ridden in this manner.

He added based on its barrier trial in preparation for this race, he anticipated that the horse would improve and advised the connections accordingly.

Having considered this matter, the Stewards took no further action.

A veterinary inspection of CIRCUIT KING immediately following the race did not show any significant findings, however, the horse was unable to be scoped due to being fractious.

A veterinary inspection of NOBLE BUDDIES immediately following the race did not show any significant findings.

CIRCUIT KING, MIGHTY EQUUS and WINNING TALENT were sent for sampling.