DEBUTANTE

Courtesy John Guy

Miracle Rouge made her debut today, and, following an awful start, came fourth by a neck, completing the final furlong in devastating style - she was still last with just 200m to go! Seems like she has potential, that's for sure, and it will be fascinating to see what she can do in the future with that level of finishing speed.

The photo of Miracle Rouge comes courtesy of a fellow Brit, John Guy, who I was hoping to meet at Tokyo-Fuchu. We'll definitely get together soon, John, but in the meantime, many thanks indeed for sending the picture across - much appreciated! Also, for those interested, the JRA website has this video footage of the race: 201205050306h.asx

Tomorrow it's the turn of Mistoffelees to get fired up, after many delays on the road to the starting gate. I have my fingers crossed that the Nijinsky and Secretariat blood running through his veins will shine through, but if his performance is as strong as that of Miracle Rouge today, I'll be happy, regardless of his finishing position.

A lot of the afternoon and early evening was spent with Hironori Sato and his family. His boy, Shoma, is already en route to becoming a jockey, following in his father's footsteps, and hopefully, he'll do well at Mie tomorrow. Playing together today, one wonders if Shoma and Sophie will be rivals on the track in the future? Now there's an interesting thought...

Meanwhile, although Miracle Rouge was out of medal contention today, news filtered through the grapevine just after lunch that Tokoro's Yoshimi Bamba won her Class in the All-Japan Championship with Twister, which is a remarkable achievement. Well done, Yoshimi!