The Stewards have interviewed Mr D J Hall, the trainer of BELUGA, regarding his application to add a hood to the gear to be worn by that horse in the stated race.  BELUGA was successful at its most recent start on 14 March 2020 when racing without a hood.

Mr Hall explained that BELUGA had become increasingly difficult to settle in its track work and therefore he added a hood to the horse in its work which, in his opinion, had benefited the horse.  He said he had trialed BELUGA twice in the lead up to this race and on the first occasion when wearing a hood, the horse proved very fractious in the barriers.  However, in its second barrier trial, BELUGA had trialed well after having been more settled in the barrier stalls.

Having considered the merits of Mr Hall’s application, the Stewards have approved for BELUGA to wear a hood in this race.