Recap by phillip woo

Turin Mascot circled the field 650m out to lead three wide and staved off Total Power to post his first Hong Kong win on his sixth local start. The writing had been on the wall in his two previous runs for Pierre Ng, and the changes to Zac Purton and Happy Valley worked the oracle. Well-backed Total Power made it a thriller on the wire after his oneout, one-back run. He performs honestly at both tracks. Favourite Above came from last - he copped a check near the 200m marker - to take third without threatening the top two. He was unlucky. Packing Hurricane had his chance after his box-seat run but only plodded over the final 150m. He could not lift carrying top weight over an extra 200m at Happy Valley following three consecutive wins over 2,000m at Sha Tin. Serangoon finished fifth after his rail run in midfield. He has been disappointing three times since his eye-catching local debut. Hit The Shot had nothing left in the tank over the final 200m after going forward three wide. Swan Bay retreated soon after straightening following his speed-tracking run. Stepping up in trip and switching to Happy Valley backfired.

Racing Incident Report

Race One: (771) - ASTER HANDICAP - Class 3 - 2200Meters

From the outside barrier, SERANGOON was shifted across behind runners in the early stages.

Approaching the first turn near the 2000 Metres, ABOVE shifted in slightly and made contact with SWAN BAY when that runner held its position three wide.

A short distance later, ABOVE then shifted out when making the turn and as a consequence made heavy contact with HIT THE SHOT (A Hamelin) when HIT THE SHOT shifted in slightly, became badly unbalanced and lost ground.

The Stewards were satisfied, having regard to the evidence of H Bowman, that the racing manners of ABOVE were the principal reason for the incident occurring, however, A Hamelin was advised to exercise more care.

Near the 1600 Metres, SWAN BAY was steadied to avoid HIT THE SHOT (A Hamelin) which shifted in when not clear.

A Hamelin was reprimanded.

In this incident, SWAN BAY shifted in and crowded the running of PACKING HURRICANE for a short distance.

Near the 500 Metres, PACKING HURRICANE, which had been held up making the Home Turn, shifted to the outside of HIT THE SHOT to attempt to improve and as a result made contact with TOTAL POWER.

Approaching the 300 Metres, SERANGOON, which made the Home Turn awkwardly and lay out under pressure in the Straight, was steadied to avoid PACKING HURRICANE when that runner shifted to the inside of HIT THE SHOT to secure clear running.

After the race, C Y Ho (SWAN BAY) reported that his mount settled more forward than anticipated due to TOTAL POWER to his inside not showing sufficient pace in the early stages and ABOVE suffering interference which as a consequence also settled further back than he anticipated.

He added his mount then raced a little keenly when positioned outside the lead without cover and, in his opinion, SWAN BAY may not have run out tonight's 2200 Metres.

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

ABOVE, TURIN MASCOT and TOTAL POWER were sent for sampling.