Recap by phillip woo

Hammer King cruised to the front 250m out after a rails run three back and kept on gamely for the win. This is what he's capable of on his day but will still need to lift up in class. Specked at odds, Racing Mate rallied well after travelling third from the rear to coming out a clear second in his season debut. He lived up to some pleasing work and trials but has trouble stringing together good runs. Convincible ran on a non-threatening third with three wider out after making his run in midfield along the fence. He's come to hand with placings in back-to-back runs but the big weights have been a headache. Both Lucky Guy and Top Score well clawing back the margins late but got too far back in the run. Surprise favourite Orionids failed to fire following a one-out, one-back run. He had shown improvement but was way under the odds because of Joao Moreira. King Mortar found nothing when asked for an effort after stalking the speed from a wide gate following a pleasing first-up run. He might need more time to acclimatise.

Racing Incident Report

Race Seven: (274)-LUKFOOK JEWELLERY LOVE FOREVER COLLECTION HANDICAP - Class 3 - 1200Metres

CITY WINNER was withdrawn on 16.12.16 by order of the Stewards acting on veterinary advice (lame right fore) and was replaced by Standby Declared Starter HAMMER KING (K C Leung).

Before being allowed to race again, CITY WINNER will be subjected to an official veterinary examination.

RACING MATE and DIGITAL GENERATION began only fairly.

HAMMER KING shifted out at the start and bumped the hindquarters of BLAZE STAMINA which became unbalanced.

From the outside barriers, TOP SCORE and LANG TAI SING were shifted across behind runners in the early stages.

In the early part of the Straight, RACING MATE raced with its head on the side and lay out.

For the majority of the race, LANG TAI SING travelled wide and without cover.

When questioned, K Teetan stated that he had been asked to ride LUCKY GUY in about a midfield position if possible.

He said despite being hard ridden for a considerable distance in the early stages, LUCKY GUY did not show as much early speed as he anticipated and making the turn near the 900 Metres was racing outside CONVINCIBLE which shifted out, resulting in LUCKY GUY being awkwardly placed outside the heels of that horse.

He said although it was available for him to steady LUCKY GUY to obtain a trailing position behind CONVINCIBLE, he elected to remain racing outside that horse as he felt that he was already further back in the field than anticipated and he did not want to give up further ground by steadying his mount to take a trailing position behind CONVINCIBLE.

He added although this resulted in LUCKY GUY racing in a three wide position without cover, he believed this was more advantageous than having the horse racing further back in the field than it already was.

After the race, S Clipperton stated that after being ridden along from an outside barrier to take up a forward position, KING MORTAR would not relax and consequently was disappointing in the manner in which it weakened out of the race in the Straight.

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

When questioned, J Moreira stated that he had been asked to attempt to lead on ORIONIDS as the horse had raced well when ridden in front at its most recent start.

He said due to the tempo of the race, he was not able to lead as hoped, nonetheless he was able to obtain a good run behind the speed.

He said he had to place pressure on ORIONIDS after the 600 Metres, however, the horse finished off the race fairly.

A veterinary inspection of ORIONIDS immediately following the race did not show any significant findings, however, the horse was unable to be scoped due to being fractious.

A veterinary inspection of LANG TAI SING immediately following the race did not show any significant findings.

ORIONIDS, HAMMER KING and RACING MATE were sent for sampling.