No Lies

Well, Perfumer's trainer did say not to expect anything, and that was exactly what we got - nothing. As such, I can't say much, other than another show of disappointment. The start was fine - nervous but fine - and given the awkward gate position, the line around the first and second corners was, to be fair, just about perfect. Things started to go wrong as the third corner turned into the fourth. The pace picked up rapidly, except for that of our horse, and to rub salt into the wound, it's another one that doesn't like sand in its face. All told, this race (both dirt and the chosen distance) was all wrong for this horse. Give it a mile on turf when it's grown up a bit, and it might do something. Assuming it can ever get a gate position, and if it does by some miracle get a berth, it's not on the outside...

Sayonara?

Irish Harp started third favourite today, and trailed in near the back, hammered by NAR horses that have just moved over to JRA. As much as I like this horse, none of the excuses from last time could be used - this was just a bad, incredibly disappointing run. She seems outclassed nowadays, and perhaps it is time to let her go before she gets injured. If she turns into a Harmony Fair or Beat The Boarder, it will be a great shame. Not much hope for tomorrow either - as usual, and surely way beyond the realms of chance, my horse has drawn the outside gate.

At least NAR racing should provide us with some entertainment. Phosphorus should be out at Kawasaki at the end of the month, and Pop Label is scheduled to run at the next Funabashi meeting. Both were unlucky not to win on their last outing, when they were forced to face other and ultimately came home in second and third.

PS. Irish Harp is expected to keep running, although the word comes from Carrot Club rather than Sugai-sensei. When you look at her record, she runs best when she has one race after another after another. This typical JRA syndrome of months of R&R after each outing doesn't suit most horses - it certainly doesn't suit her. I'll keep you posted as soon as more news becomes available.

Cursed

Another incredibly disappointing performance from Beat The Boarder. The wet track probably didn't help, but it is more a mental problem as far as I'm concerned - the horse has totally lost the desire to race, and only avoided coming last because another runner had some sort of problem. I see no alternative but to retire the thing, and put us all out of our agony. At the very least, the trainer should be changed - the horse had no interest in what was going on in both the paddock and the gate; the Sunday TC people are saying it was poorly turned out; the jockey is saying the bad result was due 100% to poor conditioning, and yet the trainer is saying there's no problem. Was he watching the same race as us, or perhaps he saw number 8 at a different track and assumed that was the horse he gets paid good money to train? With an attitude like that, a rest and warmer weather will make no difference whatsoever. There are problems. Serious problems. And unless they get looked at and dealt with, you will always be finishing at the back...

Hopefully Irish Harp will restore family honour and bring us win number 27, although a show of effort alone would be appreciated after tonight. Perfumer has also been confirmed for the weekend, but it's being treated as a practice run by the sound of things. At least 'Bugatti' is going from strength to strength, with Sophie doing everything today from start to finish. And believe me, it takes some guts to ride 'Bugatti' straight out the box! Sophie might be small, but she's a tough cookie.

DJ V1

Courtesy Realta HRC

Danielle's Journey ran a blinder under Steven Crawford yesterday to claim her first victory, and a more well-deserved win would be hard to find - not just for the horse, but for Sean and Tommy who founded the Realta club she belongs to, and the Crawford family, who train her and even provided the jockey on this occasion. Ultimately, after two miles (3200m) she won by almost four lengths, with the third-placed pony an amazing 17 lengths further back!

Closer to home, Beat The Boarder lines up with Shun Ishizaki in the TCK 9R tomorrow. Let's hope they can revive some of their glory from the past. After that, Irish Harp runs on the 21st, with Perfumer on the following day and Rush Attack on the 28th...