Yano Stable

I've been meaning to do this for ages, but never seem to get the chance with so many other horse-related events and results to record, along with the time spent watching them and riding them. Oh yes, and there's that thing called work as well, which takes up far too much of my day!

But anyway, for anyone in the know, one glance at Phosphorus' pictures
will tell you he is with the Yano Stable at Funabashi, for the famous black and yellow striped face mask is a signature of the establishment, brought about by the owner's love of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team.

Courtesy Yano Stable

The man behind it all is Yoshiyuki Yano, who was born in February 1951. He was actually the top jockey at Kimiidera Keiba in Wakayama, but he moved to Funabashi when it closed in 1988. Along the way, Yano-sensei claimed 887 wins from 8850 rides, so the younger lads that work for him can't get away with much - he knows what he's talking about from many years and a great deal of success in the saddle.

After retiring as a jockey, the Yano Stable was established in June 2002, with its first win coming just two days after start-up. It took four years to clock up 100 victories, but the 500th came in September 2013, and the 600th is looming even as I write this. He was leading trainer at Funabashi in 2012 and 2013, but it's not just the success that makes him special - a chance to talk to him will soon have you admiring him as a person of the same ilk as another of my heroes at the Funabashi track...

Weekend Probe

A quick look at the results over the weekend reveals that Porthos Du Vallon was fourth at Musselburgh. He weakened over the last furlong again, making that jumping career look less likely than ever. I think he will go down as being an expensive lesson - if you want a jumper, you have to go to a specialist stable, which will be the plan for next year.

Next up, Irish Harp was third in Hokkaido. The winner was in a different league, which is fair enough. At least she tried, and her race record looks a bit brighter for the effort with a second third place. She now stands at 0-0-2-7, although within the seven, there are four fourths and a fifth. The trainer is still confident of a win, and I have to agree that it's only a matter of time before it comes.

River Spirit was fourth with William Twiston-Davies at Bath. Having gone up in class, and with two strong horses we'd been told to be afraid of ahead of her, my spirits are still as high as they were before the race with this girl. As Arnie would say, we'll be back!

Looking ahead on the JRA front, Miracle Rouge and Dinner Bell have gone back to Miho TC, meaning they will race soon. Miracle has a chance of redeeming herself for her last two bad runs, while this will hopefully be Dinner Bell's last race, and we can stop the pain of having to watch her come in at the back of the field as usual.

With the Kawasaki week over in NAR racing, the Funabashi week starts. Guess what? Phosphorus runs again on Monday! He was still as fresh as a daisy after his last win, so Yano-sensei has decided to run him in the 1600m 8R - the race he was originally scheduled for before the snap decision to enter him at Kawasaki. There's also events to celebrate Kota Motohashi's 500th win (with Phosphorus, of course), Syogo Nakano's 100th, and the graduation of Yuta Sato from jockey to trainer. You'll remember we did a profile on Yuta some time ago - a smashing chap...

Hokkaido Dreaming

Irish Harp is definitely running in the opener at Hakodate on the 14th. For a change, I've got a good feeling about this one, sincerely hoping she'll bring me my third winner this week, as I doubt whether Porthos Du Vallon will do it for me in England the day before.

Looking ahead, True Motion is supposed to run on the 21st in a fillies only 1600m dirt race. Tanabe-san should be taking up the reins, but this could change. It would be nice to see Tosaki-san team up with her again...

Reports on the Carrot Club youngsters are filtering through, by the way, but there's nothing really worth relaying at this stage.

JP Update

From a multitude of reports that came in from Carrot Club this morning, only the one relating to Single Cask offered any hope on the JRA front, although Harmony Fair could benefit from her new training environment, assuming she makes it back to the racing stables one day. Tenshinramman is not on holiday apparently - she's just pretending to be. Other than that, it's treadmill heaven as usual. Oh, except for Glint Moment, that is, who still can't pass a gate test and doesn't do anything right. Time to face it, Glint Moment will never - never, ever - be a racehorse, and should be struck from the line-up...

I've ordered a few polo shirts that might generate a bit of interest once they've been made, but the big news today is getting the Shadai Thoroughbred Club/Sunday Thoroughbred Club orders done on the new yearlings. There's not actually that much choice on NAR runners this time around (I'm not going anywhere near JRA horses), but I've found two that look the part, and the paperwork has duly been sent off. Watch this space! Meanwhile, Beat The Border should be making her comeback at TCK in a couple of weeks, which is something to look forward to in the near future.

MoT Pass

Monsoon Trough got through her ability test okay, although the awful start she made had me a little worried. She soon picked up the pace, though, and finished with a kick as soon as she was asked to. With a little more time in training, she'll be a keeper I reckon. Looking at the new Shadai catalogues that have just landed on my doorstep, another Vermilion horse appears to be on the cards, too...

PS. The jockey report seems to confirm everything we saw on the video. He reckons she's about 60-70% ready to race, but shows great potential, being both mentally and physically strong. I hope the trainer will hold her back a while and thus give her a fighting chance of becoming something really special when she comes to the Nankan area.

Double Celebration

Kawasaki gave me two reasons to celebrate yesterday - a second victory for Phosphorus, which just so happened to clock up Kota Motohashi's 500th win at the same time! What a wonderful way to commemorate such an event from my family's angle, as we all know Sophie is a huge fan of the man in black and yellow. Congratulations, Kota!

As for Phos-kun, well, he became a real pro as soon as he got in the parade ring, forgetting how cute the filly in front of him looked. He got out of the gates without any help or problems, and settled in in midfield with a ton of sand being kicked up in his face. This no longer bothers him, and while Kota moved up on Matoba-san's lead, they powered off the last corner nicely to leave the others in their wake to claim a truly impressive three-length victory with ease.

What's remarkable is that once again, in his cooling down phase, Phosphorus looked fresh enough to run in the next race. He still isn't trying, but still manages to be awesome in his power delivery nonetheless. If you'd like to see the race, Phosphorus is number 2: http://nankan/20140609. Thanks to some brilliant work behind the scenes from one of the best teams in the business, that finish was truly inspiring, and could point to a rather exciting entry if he manages to win his next race...

UK Weekenders

An entry has been made for Porthos du Vallon at the Musselburgh meeting on the 13th June in a mile handicap, while our favourite girl, River Spirit, is booked to run on the following day in the 4:20 at Bath - the Class 4 FSB Print and Mail Novice Stakes. She has also been booked for the 2:20 at Thirsk on the 17th as a back-up.