Carrot Catastrophe

Further comments made after the race only serve to put nails in Miracle Rouge's coffin, so to speak. It has been said that her dark colour doesn't help in the heat, but it's only going to get a lot hotter over the next couple of months, so using that as an excuse now (it was only 23 degrees C in Tokyo at 1pm) definitely puts a limit on running her sensibly during the height of summer, right? The average temperature is 30-31 degrees C in July and August, and the Carrot Club 'season' will be over then. As for the tension problem - well, like most of the JRA horses, she doesn't see a racetrack often enough, and with the decision being made to send her off for an R&R session, that isn't going to help, as it's a mental reaction similar to what a man feels before a big fight. It doesn't matter what a horse is like in training if it falls to pieces in the paddock. With nothing but feeble excuses and poor results being banded about, it would be best to just retire the poor thing now and be finished, for scrabbling around at the back of the field is doing no-one any good.

I noticed also that Irish Harp has been shipped off for an R&R session as well, which is hardly a good sign. There's still a bit of Hakodate racing to go, and Sapporo follows, so she may still have one more chance, but I wouldn't bank on it. No cigar after ten races (which is more than Harmony Fair has had, and only one less than Tenshinramman, both from a year earlier), and starting as favourite in the last two outings to boot, points to her being one of those horses that simply doesn't have what it takes to win. It will be interesting to see where she gets sent in the next week or so.