An enquiry was held into the running and riding of Blue Shark (IRE), ridden by Jonjo O’Neill Jr and trained by Jonjo O’Neill which, having raced in mid-division, dropped back rounding the final bend and was tenderly ridden thereafter to finish fourth beaten 39 ¾ lengths.

The rider was interviewed and shown recordings of the race; the Veterinary Officer reported that a post-race examination during routine testing of Blue Shark (IRE), failed to reveal any abnormalities.

The rider stated his instructions were to ride handy and give the gelding a good sight of his hurdles but not to use his whip as he is a fractious sort that needs cajoling.

In describing the race, O’Neill said that he was pleased by the way Blue Shark (IRE) handled the preliminaries and, once racing, the gelding settled well into the race and he was able to sit mid- division, 6 or 7 lengths off the leaders.

However, when they picked up the pace halfway round the final bend he was unable to go with them and the gelding came off the bridle making a mistake at the penultimate flight.

O’Neill maintained that the gelding had no more to give down the home straight and therefore kept hold of his head to get him across the line and was only just able to maintain fourth position.

He further added that, in his opinion, Blue Shark (IRE) felt weak and tired on today’s Good to Soft ground but considered that, once the gelding had strengthened up, he might be able to handle it better as well as benefiting from a longer trip.

His explanations were noted.