Recap by phillip woo

Favourite Rugby Diamond jumped nicely to lead with blinkers from gate five, had Forever Fun roll forward to park outside him 600m out, re-established a two-length margin upon straightening and kept finding for the a first win at his 17th start. King On Earth kept on well following a prominent run along the fence to just hold the hard-charging Speedy Wally for second. Speedy Wally had trouble staying in touch early on, but was finishing best of all down the outside in an encouraging run following a stable change and step back in distance. Optimism eased back from a wide gate to travel third from the rear, straightened near the inside and ran on reasonably well to just miss the placings. Ray Of Gold ran on steadily four deep after travelling second from the rear. Specked late, Dutch Windmill made some ground without looking a major threat three deep following a rails run in midfield. Forever Fun pressed forward out deep to eventually punch the breeze in second at the 600m, brushed with King On Earth 400m soon after straightening and was one-paced over the final 150m. Fotogenic was yielding ground over the final 100m after being caught three deep without cover until slotting one-out, one-back at the 600m. Heavenly Masters didn't fire a shot after travelling ahead of midfield one off the fence with cover despite a move to blinkers.

Racing Incident Report

Race One: (648)-HO CHUNG RIVER HANDICAP - Class 5 - 1200Metres

WHISTLE BLOWER was withdrawn on 17.5.16 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame left fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter CHANS DELIGHT (O Bosson).

Before being allowed to race again, WHISTLE BLOWER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.

On entering the track, G Lerena was dislodged from NOBLE BUDDIES without incident.

KING'S STEED lifted its front feet off the ground as the start was effected and began awkwardly.

RAY OF GOLD was crowded for room on jumping between FOREVER FUN and NOBLE BUDDIES, both of which shifted ground.

After this, RAY OF GOLD was shifted across behind runners.

DUTCH WINDMILL shifted in at the start and bumped the hindquarters of HEAVENLY MASTERS which became unbalanced.

From wide barriers, SPEEDY WALLY and OPTIMISM were shifted across behind runners in the early stages.

At the 900 Metres, NOBLE BUDDIES got its head up when awkwardly placed outside the heels of KING'S STEED.

FOREVER FUN travelled wide and without cover until after the 600 Metres.

For the majority of the race, but particularly after the 700 Metres, SPEEDY WALLY raced with its head on the side and lay in.

At the entrance to the Straight, FOREVER FUN lay in and bumped heavily with KING ON EARTH, resulting in FOREVER FUN becoming badly unbalanced.

Also at the entrance to the Straight, RAY OF GOLD was steadied and shifted in away from the heels of KING'S STEED and near the 200 Metres was inconvenienced by KING'S STEED which shifted in under pressure.

Passing the 50 Metres, KING'S STEED was awkwardly placed outside the heels of RAY OF GOLD which shifted out.

A veterinary inspection of CHANS DELIGHT, which weakened in the Straight after travelling wide throughout, immediately following the race did not show any significant findings.

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

Before being allowed to race again, HEAVENLY MASTERS will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.

RUGBY DIAMOND and KING ON EARTH were sent for sampling.