Earlier this week the Stewards were approached by Mr D J Hall, the trainer of HEROIC GURU, regarding the suitability of Apprentice K K Chiong, who claims a 10 lb allowance, to ride the horse in this race. At its last start when successful at Sha Tin on 27 June 2015 when ridden by J Moreira, HEROIC GURU shifted ground on a number of occasions in the Straight under pressure and proved difficult to ride. On that occasion the racing manners of HEROIC GURU were considered unacceptable and the horse was required to perform satisfactorily in a barrier trial. HEROIC GURU subsequently trialed to the satisfaction of the Stewards on 9 October 2015 when again ridden by Jockey Moreira.
Mr Hall explained that HEROIC GURU, which has had 13 race starts in Hong Kong, had not raced erratically in any of its other race starts here and that the horse had performed well in the aforementioned barrier trial. He said accordingly he is of the opinion that the racing manners of HEROIC GURU at its final race start last season were out of character and that apart from this one race the horse has not presented an issue in its races.
Having considered the full performance history of HEROIC GURU and also its most recent barrier trial, the Stewards advised Mr Hall that they are satisfied that HEROIC GURU is a suitable race ride for Apprentice Chiong and accordingly she was declared to ride the horse this morning.
Mr K W Lui, the allocated trainer of Apprentice Chiong, is fully aware of the circumstances of this booking and is similarly comfortable that Apprentice Chiong is suitable to ride HEROIC GURU in this race.
