Friday, January 15, 2016

Will I Ever Win Again?

As predicted, Pop Label lost valuable lengths at the gate, and was then held back too long. Forced around the outside due to the poxy gate draw - again! - it all proved too much against proper sprinters. A third place has to be considered a bitter disappointment for a horse of this level, who is undoubtedly capable of much better things, but the result is hardly surprising in my eyes given the scenario he was exposed to. I thought he looked a bit porky, too, with his weight a good 10-15kg up on his Funabashi days.

Anyway, despite having the favourite on numerous occasions, I've not had a Shadai TC/Sunday TC winner in almost ten months - Phosphorus was the last on 2nd April 2015, which seems like an eternity ago. We've got four runners at Funabashi next week, including Phos-kun (hopefully back in form after a long lay-off), and Magic Key, who if he's allowed to run properly should be even more devastating than any of the other NAR horses we have a stake in - good stuff in the stables notwithstanding. Maybe we should have had five running at Funabashi, for Pop Label has not been able to capitalize on the expected benefit stemming from the regular use of a clockwise track, and things might have been completely different over these last few weeks if he'd have stayed where he was. Who knows? I do know, however, that I will be looking for a run of wins - and very soon - otherwise the huge purchase price and running costs of Shadai horses just doesn't make sense...

PS. The trainer wants to try another 1200m race, when hopefully we won't get the outside gate. Ummm. We'll see. But I don't think it will make any difference to be honest, as he simply can't clear the stalls quickly enough. Meanwhile, Danielle's Journey is supposed to be out with Andrew Lynch on Sunday, and Raining Dollars has a trial run Down Under on Monday. Next up after that is a quartet of Funabashi runners towards the end of the week, with Blacklister entered at Wolverhampton on Friday...

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Twiddling Thumbs

Still no official word on Beat The Boarder's fate, although the last race was supposed to be a final chance, and after such a disgusting performance, I can see no option but to call it a day. If we could find a race over 600m or 800m, maybe she'd have a place in a racing stable, but this is not realistic in Japan. As such, keeping her isn't realistic either.

The Carrot Club reports don't offer much hope for entertainment, with the Perfumer situation being particularly annoying in what may as well be a catalogue of holiday brochures as race stable reports. With the exception of the Ogata and Ogasa stables, which plan races and take breaks only when necessary, 'Bugatti' trains harder, and that's no lie!

A Touch Of Sparkle has been pulled from today's race due to the ground conditions, and I guess we'll have to wait and see what unfolds with Danielle's Journey. The other day's unfortunate incident has put all plans behind with this horse, and one wonders if we can get back on schedule to be honest without taking risks. It is annoying to have to live with such a waste, and I don't accept a 'youthful miss' by the jockey as a suitable excuse for a second place turning into a disqualification - I had already held several management positions and started the first of my own businesses by his age! If he'd been five years younger, when I started work, I would be a lot more forgiving...

Not sure about tomorrow's entry for Pop Label. As usual, we've got the outside gate (this has to be more than a coincidence!), although I guess at least we can't get blocked being out there. The weather forecast is good, giving us the best ground for this horse, and Louis reckons he'll take the spoils, despite the strong competition. Ummm.

Looking a bit further ahead, the last of the 2013 NAR newcomers, Keoloha, has a test scheduled for the 23rd February. There are two more NAR horses born in 2014 coming through, but everything JRA has now made a debut - Infinity Love being the last, of course, although there is still no word from the trainer on what happened on Monday and what's next.

PS. Just heard that Infinity Love is being kept back for another run, which should help it be in better race trim for a third outing due after a spell of R&R. In other news, Beat The Boarder has indeed been retired; I'm sure poor Shun-kun must be as glad as me, for it made him look bad, when we all know he's a bloody good jockey. 

Monday, January 11, 2016

Moan, Moan, Moan...

The jockey is saying Infinity Love had no idea what it was supposed to be doing today, which can happen on a debut. I suppose I should give the benefit of the doubt seeing as that is Take-san's take on it, and so I shall wait to be seriously impressed on the next outing (hopefully coming very soon as you can't learn how to race in a holiday camp) before passing further judgement. Not very impressed with there being no comment from the trainer, however - I thought he was different to the run-of-the-mill JRA lot, which was one of the main reasons I bought into Infinity Love (and you can lay odds that I'm far from alone in that). Obviously he couldn't be bothered to find the key to escape from JRA's ivory tower to spend a few seconds to communicate with those who ultimately pay his wages. Disappointed all-round - yet again...

And I can't see anything to celebrate coming from NAR this week either, with a dud and a horse that is so good - once it clears the gate, at least - it gets marked into submission, and that really brings the whole Japanese racing thing into question. As decided some time ago, JRA will definitely go, and I find myself in a crazy position of hoping for second-place finishes on the two newcomers after today. To be honest, it's a bad joke, and if they pull off a fluke win, they'll be kept, which will only prolong the agony of remaining in this sad environment, for while a blaze attitude is the norm from the off (with few exceptions), no-one other than Ogata-sensei seems to care at all in the second or third year of ownership - enough has been done to secure yet more easy money, and results are irrelevant until the unearned and guaranteed replacements arrive in due course (it's not like England or any other normal country, where repeat business has to be fought for). As for NAR, there's a lot of recent events that have taken the fun out of it. We'll have to see how things go on the NAR scene over the next few months. At least the kids still love it!

Meanwhile, in Ireland, A Touch Of Sparkle should be running at Catterick on Thursday the 14th, with Danielle's Journey following soon after at Leopardstown on Sunday. In England, Blacklister has been pencilled in for a maiden over a mile at Chelmsford on the 28th, by which time our final runner in Australia might be out again.

PS. Despite a superb start, Beat The Boarder's race was probably the worst of its career, which should at least give the trainer no leverage whatsoever in his bid to further extend the contract on the basis of mythical improvements. It should have been terminated ages ago as far as I'm concerned, as the horse has simply lost the will to race, and detests the cold to boot. With the winter months coming on hard and fast, it makes sense to call it a day now.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

J'ai Un Reve Again!

Infinity Love made her JRA debut at Kyoto in a mile turf race today. The combination of Yahagi-sensei and Yutaka Take should have given her a huge advantage but, knowing how things work now, with Falbrav as sire would mean there was no chance regardless of the horse's ability (Falbrav is not a permanent fixture in Japan). Starting as third favourite, the fact that it came home in 12th, just ahead of a pack of no-hopers, is no longer a surprise, and I expect similar dismal results until the poor thing is retired and people turn away from bloodlines that don't the suit the monopoly.

On the NAR front, Beat The Boarder runs over a mile in the TCK 6R tomorrow with Shun Ishizaki back in the saddle. I don't think even Shun-kun's skill will make a difference, though, and I look forward to saying goodbye to this horse that has obviously lost the will to race. I would have given her an easy life long ago, as she should be much more suited to broodmare duty than track work. A couple of days later, Pop Label is in TCK action on the 15th, but over a very short 1200m - given his poor starts, we shall see is this is a good call or not in due course. At this stage, I'm not convinced - 1800m yes, but a sprint? It's a powerful horse, so all we can do is wait and see. Funabashi sees Magic Key run on the 20th, Million Ways out on the 21st, and Chocolat Sucre and Phosphorus booked for the following day...