Recap by phillip woo

Punted late Sunshine Warrior took control near the 100m after taking full advantage of gate one to travel box-seat. He had already won twice at Sha Tin. Favourite Heavenly Thought found one too good after surging to the lead 300m out tracking the leader Thunder Stomp from a wide gate. He is in very good form. Well-backed late Reel Bizzy just got up for third after making his run one off the fence travelling better than midfield. It was a better effort with a switch in course. Surrealism ran on well to just miss a placing after getting fanned very wide upon straightening following a patient ride third from the rear from a wide gate. He keeps promising without delivering. Hercules ran on steadily from behind midfield to pick up a minor cheque. It was his best effort from nine starts. Thunder Stomp was stopping 150m out after easily finding the front from gate five. He's getting long in the tooth and is a Class Four horse nowadays.

Racing Incident Report

Race Six: (506) - MAGNOLIA HANDICAP - Class 3 - 1650Meters

PACKING JOY (B Shinn), which was fractious in the barriers, reared as the start was effected and lost ground.

In this incident, B Shinn's head made contact with the overhead structure of the barriers.

Before being allowed to race again, PACKING JOY will be required to perform satisfactorily in a stalls test.

From wide barriers, STARSHIP, BEAUTY HAPPY and SURREALISM were all steadied and shifted across behind runners in the early stages.

After leaving the 1300 Metres, REEL BIZZY raced keenly and refused to settle.

Passing the 1000 Metres, HERCULES was steadied away from the heels of REEL BIZZY which continued to prove difficult to settle.

At the same stage, BEAUTY HAPPY improved to be racing close to the heels of TOTAL POWER and was steadied.

Soon after straightening, HERCULES was shifted to the inside of the heels of REEL BIZZY to improve.

When questioned regarding the tactics he adopted on MAGNIFICENT, V Borges stated that his instructions were to try and find a position behind the leaders which were anticipated to be THUNDER STOMP and HEAVENLY THOUGHT as the horse had previously won over the course and distance when ridden in this manner on 26 December 2019.

He said whilst he had the opportunity to shift across with THUNDER STOMP approaching the first turn, he elected to steady MAGNIFICENT in order to comply with his instructions, however, he was unable to find cover which left MAGNIFICENT racing in a three wide position.

He said with the pace being moderate after the 1200 Metres, he did have the option to allow MAGNIFICENT to improve around HEAVENLY THOUGHT into the lead, however, he was particularly mindful of the instructions that he received that MAGNIFICENT would be best served by being ridden off the pace.

Trainer L Ho confirmed that he had asked Jockey Borges to ride MAGNIFICENT in an off-pace position as he felt that this would be preferable than attempting to lead with top weight.

When questioned, Apprentice C Wong stated that THUNDER STOMP took up a leading role as was anticipated and initially travelled satisfactorily.

He said however that THUNDER STOMP came under pressure earlier than it normally would and then was disappointing in the manner in which it failed to finish off the race.

He added after the race THUNDER STOMP appeared normal in its action and he was not able to offer any explanation for the horse's performance.

A veterinary inspection of THUNDER STOMP immediately following the race did not show any significant findings.

A veterinary inspection of ALCARI immediately following the race found that horse to have sustained a small cut to the outside of the left hind pastern.

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

SUNSHINE WARRIOR and HEAVENLY THOUGHT were sent for sampling.