Recap by phillip woo

Early favourite Empire Star repelled a challenge by Gracious Ryder after hitting the front 80m out covering ground worse than midfield for a maiden win. The winning photo was overdue after placing in 10 of 24 other starts. Gracious Ryder made it a thrilling run to the wire after making his run just behind the eventual winner. He has been able to back up a last-start win over this trip. Winwin Thirtythree closed well from near the back to fill a placing. He does appear from his past two starts following a step up to the 1,400m to be heading in the right direction now and he might get a mile as well. Kwai Chung Elite just held onto fourth by a whisker following a box-seat run to spice up the Quartet. Mister Monte finished nicely near the outside after straightening two from the back in a rare Sha Tin appearance. He has been hovering around the finish in his past few runs. The Judge made only a mild bid near the inside following a midfield run.

Racing Incident Report

Race Eight: (729) - POK FU LAM RESERVOIR ROAD HANDICAP - Class 4 - 1400Meters

WINWIN THIRTYTHREE was crowded for room on jumping between MISTER MONTE which began awkwardly and KWAI CHUNG ELITE which shifted out.

In this incident, MISTER MONTE became unbalanced when bumped on the hindquarters by WINWIN THIRTYTHREE.

MISTER MONTE was consequently steadied to obtain cover.

EMPIRE STAR began only fairly.

RED BRICK FIGHTER shifted out at the start and bumped CALIFORNIA LEGEND.

KA YING BRILLIANCE began very awkwardly, shifted in and bumped VITAL SPRING, resulting in KA YING BRILLIANCE becoming unbalanced and M L Yeung losing the use of his right stirrup iron.

A short distance after the start, the right stirrup iron flipped up on the saddle, resulting in M L Yeung having to use his right foot to have the stirrup iron resume the position on the right side of the horse.

M L Yeung was then able to regain the use of his stirrup iron near the 1200 Metres.

M L Yeung stated that it was intended to take up a forward position on KA YING BRILLIANCE, however, as it took him some time to regain the use of his stirrup iron, he was not able to be as prominent as had been intended and was left racing wide and without cover for the majority of the race.

A veterinary inspection of KA YING BRILLIANCE immediately following the race did not show any significant findings.

From the outside barriers, MEDIC DRAGON and IRON BRAVO were steadied in the early stages and shifted across behind runners.

Also from a wide barrier, VICTORY SONG was steadied in the early stages to obtain cover.

Passing the 1100 Metres, THE JUDGE momentarily raced tight inside FUN TIMES which, when travelling keenly, got its head on the side and shifting in away from RED BRICK FIGHTER.

After the 600 Metres, FUN TIMES momentarily raced in restricted room between THE JUDGE and EMPIRE STAR which lay in away from the heels of KA YING BRILLIANCE.

FUN TIMES had difficulty obtaining clear running in the early part of the Straight and near the 350 Metres shifted out away from the heels of KA YING BRILLIANCE, resulting in WINWIN THIRTYTHREE being shifted out away from the heels of FUN TIMES in consequence.

A veterinary inspection of FUN TIMES immediately following the race did not show any significant findings.

FUN TIMES, EMPIRE STAR and GRACIOUS RYDER were sent for sampling.