Recap by phillip woo

Amazing took the short route home from near the back to grab a maiden win in the dying stages at his 22nd start. He did put the writing on the wall last start and it was a fantastic ride by Zac Purton. Super Lucky did everything right but get the win after hitting the front 50m out following a one-off run in midfield. Lightly-raced Victory For All got going from last to snatch a placing after switching into the clear 100m out. Exceptional Desire was swamped late after advancing to the lead 150m out following a box-seat run. Victory Mastery finished well down the outside after a patient ride fourth from the rear. It was his best run to date following a gear change. Punted late Wood On Fire came up onepaced in the run to the wire after working hard to punch the breeze behind in second behind leader Flying Godspell 750m out from a wide gate. This Is Charisma had the run close on him twice in the drive following a run worse than midfield.

Racing Incident Report

Race One: (409) - SAI KUNG HANDICAP - Class 4 - 1200Meters

At declaration time, B Shinn was declared as the rider of both CHAMPION PRIDE and NOBLE DESIRE.

It was established that B Shinn had a firm commitment to ride CHAMPION PRIDE.

As such, the Stewards permitted L Hewitson to be substituted as the rider of NOBLE DESIRE.

For this declaration error, Trainer D J Whyte was fined $2,000.

CHAMPION PRIDE was withdrawn on 10.2.20 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (right front tendon injury) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter SUPER LUCKY.

Before being allowed to race again, CHAMPION PRIDE will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.

Trainer K H Ting was fined $3,000 for presenting FLYING GODSPELL in the Parade Ring with a hood which was not part of that horse's declared gear.

NOBLE DESIRE began awkwardly.

SUPER LUCKY shifted in at the start and bumped THIS IS CHARISMA.

FLYING GODSPELL lifted its front feet off the ground as the start was effected and began very awkwardly and then was crowded for room on jumping between VICTORY MASTERY and AMAZING, both of which shifted ground.

From wide barriers, AMAZING, VICTORY MASTERY and VICTORY FOR ALL were all shifted across behind runners in the early stages to obtain cover.

After travelling a short distance, WOOD ON FIRE was awkwardly placed outside the heels of GRAND HARBOUR when momentarily crowded for room inside JOLLY CONVERGENCE.

SUPER LUCKY, which was racing inside WOOD ON FIRE, shifted in away from that horse, resulting in THIS IS CHARISMA being hampered.

After being steadied in the early stages in an attempt to obtain cover, WINNING STRIKES got its head up making the turn after the 1100 Metres and after momentarily obtaining cover passing the 900 Metres was then left racing wide and without cover near the 800 Metres.

Passing the 900 Metres, SUPER LUCKY commenced to travel keenly.

Making the turn near the 600 Metres, NOBLE DESIRE became badly unbalanced and appeared to slip behind.

After the race, L Hewitson stated that NOBLE DESIRE balanced back up after this incident and felt comfortable in its action, however, after being placed under heavy pressure prior to the Home Turn the horse's action deteriorated and NOBLE DESIRE then gave ground in the Straight.

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

Before being allowed to race again, NOBLE DESIRE will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.

After the race, an inspection of the relevant section of the track was undertaken by the Club's track staff with no areas of concern being identified.

At the entrance to the Straight, FLYING GODSPELL and WOOD ON FIRE raced tight.

Approaching the 200 Metres, AMAZING raced tight inside GRAND HARBOUR.

Passing the 200 Metres, THIS IS CHARISMA shifted out and bumped the hindquarters of JOLLY CONVERGENCE which became unbalanced when racing tight inside SUPER LUCKY.

After making further contact with JOLLY CONVERGENCE a short distance later, THIS IS CHARISMA was then shifted to the inside of WOOD ON FIRE in an attempt to obtain clear running.

Passing the 100 Metres, VICTORY FOR ALL and THIS IS CHARISMA bumped as both horses attempted to improve between WOOD ON FIRE and EXCEPTIONAL DESIRE where there was not sufficient room for two horses to proceed.

As EXCEPTIONAL DESIRE was then directed out to prevent causing interference to FLYING GODSPELL, this resulted in VICTORY FOR ALL and THIS IS CHARISMA being badly crowded for room and causing THIS IS CHARISMA to be severely checked when forced out onto the hindquarters of WOOD ON FIRE which became badly unbalanced as a result of pressure on its hindquarters.

As the Stewards were satisfied that the incident was primarily as a result of both VICTORY FOR ALL and THIS IS CHARISMA attempting to improve into tight running which both riders were entitled to pursue and that the crowding was exacerbated by the movement out by EXCEPTIONAL DESIRE, no further action was taken.

GRAND HARBOUR was held up for clear running behind FLYING GODSPELL over the concluding stages and consequently was not able to be properly tested.

A veterinary inspection of THIS IS CHARISMA and FLYING GODSPELL immediately following the race did not show any significant findings.

EXCEPTIONAL DESIRE, AMAZING and SUPER LUCKY were sent for sampling.