Dates & Unwanted Patterns

Raining Dollars should be running Down Under on Saturday, kicking off a fresh Aussie campaign. Kealoha and Magic Key are out at Funabashi on the 10th (our Japanese first action of 2017), while Phosphorus makes a comeback on the 13th, and Lotus Blossom makes its debut on the same day (the latter with Yoshihara in the saddle, which is hardly a brilliant choice for me considering I've been against him ever since the Tokyo Derby). Let's hope we can start the New Year over here better than we finished the last one. In reality, it would be difficult to record even worse results, but I'm saying nothing until the racing is over. Oh, Vertice is off to Northern Farm, of course! Let's start funding the bloody place as early in the year as possible. Bollocks.

Larressingle is going back to JRA (with a new trainer due to the old one retiring), and I just hope we don't see the typical Carrot Club scenario of "okay, it's won now, so here goes with three years of no effort and easy money." This has happened all too often in the past, with Tenshinramman and Massabielle being perfect examples of wasted potential, so I shall be watching progress carefully with this one, as it's a damned good horse - if it doesn't perform like one, someone should take responsibility instead of keep taking our hard-earned cash for no racing and no return.

PS. On the subject of unwanted patterns, another bad race in Australia on Saturday. No news on Rush Attack since the 20th, which is concerning - the old saying of 'no news is good news' does not apply when Northern Farm are in the equation, especially when the thing has already clocked up ten months off the track.

PPS. Further to the last race report on Raining Dollars, I have made a decision to end my Australian race campaign for the time being. I don't really want to, as I know the results have not been the fault of the trainer, but the horse's run of bad luck has been seemingly endless in recent months. Sitting in bed awake due to the wind battering the window shutters, I decided a mark has to be scrawled in the sand somewhere along the line, especially when I moan like hell about Japanese results (the only difference is the poor results here are largely avoidable with more effort, which we should be getting without question considering the amount of money that goes out to the clubs each month!), and the New Year seems as good a time as any to draw that line. Thank you, Jo, for almost four years of fun through three different nags...