A WET TRACK, BUT SPIRITS FAR FROM DAMP
The B.C. Whittle Memorial Race at Funabashi went off smoothly this afternoon - it was a nice way to say goodbye to my Dad, and I'd like to thank all those that made it a special day, either just by being there, or through their organization skills behind the scenes. I reckon we should do it every year from now on!

Today, the track was pretty waterlogged, to say the least, so the going was extremely heavy, and talking to one of the jockeys, it was difficult to see unless you were near the front. Of the 14 riders that bolted out of the starting gate for the eighth race, it was the veteran jockey Hiroshi Morishita that read the conditions the best, coming through to cross the line first by quite some margin aboard Red Heart.

At the end of the race, I presented the winning trainer, Kenji Uchino, with a limited edition print by Jacqueline Stanhope featuring a pair of horses that remind me of Jaguar - the first horse my father had any real contact with, and who he always asked about whenever we were on the phone; living 6000 miles away, he used to love seeing pictures of the kids enjoying time with Jaguar. It all fits in place when you know this detail.