LOCAL rider Danny Lee has been banned for nine meetings for his handling of Super Win Boo at Happy Valley's equitrack meeting on Wednesday night.
At a pre-race inquiry last night, which had been adjourned from midweek, Lee was found not to have ridden the gelding to obtain the best possible placing in the sprint won by Diamond Treasure in course record time.
Chief stipendiary steward Bernard Hargreaves commented: ''There was a clear gap which we felt he should have taken but he made little effort to do so.'' The morning after the incident, Lee had said: ''The horse was hanging with me the whole way.
''He was also racing without blinkers for the first time, with a different bit and without a tongue strap. I will be explaining this to the stewards when the inquiry continues.'' Super Win Boo was making his debut for the stable of first-season handler Tony P. H. Chan, having previously raced for Kenny Kam and Neville Begg.
Meanwhile, Australia's Zaparri underlined his outstanding International Bowl chances yesterday with a record-equalling win in Melbourne.
The Steve McKinnon-trained gelding broke the four-year-old course record for 1,300 metres when scoring at the metropolitan venue of Sandown, despite being forced to carry an onerous 59.5 kilograms under regular rider Simon Marshall.
The Australian challenge for the International Cup is looking decidedly tame but Zaparri's performance yesterday, plus that of Storaia on Monday, gives them a very powerful hand to play against top local hope Helene Star in the $3.5 million Bowl in a fortnight.
