SECRETARIAT MOVIE
British people from my generation immediately think of Nijinsky or Red Rum as the horse that defined an era in our childhood. For me, Nijinsky shines bright, for even though I was too young to see him run in anger, the name was steeped in legend when I was a kid, and mentioned for decades after his retirement, even making its way into popular culture. Watching the reruns of his races on TV, or in the super film that was produced to commemorate his career (narrated by Orson Welles, no less), one can see why he was held up as something special!

On the other side of the Atlantic, Nijinsky's contemporary was Secretariat - a big chestnut that won the US Triple Crown, and was recently awarded a course record on video evidence almost four decades after the race was run. Surely, few other horses could evoke such passion in securing a legacy. But Secretariat was every bit as special as Nijinsky. He was in a different league, as his win in the Belmont Stakes proved without a shadow of doubt...

Anyway, a couple of years ago, Disney made a film about this magnificent beast, with the human elements in the background adding to the appeal of the story. Yes, it's old news abroad, but the DVD is now available in Japanese at last. All I can say is it's well worth watching for any race enthusiast - even those that don't follow racing seriously.

I have big hopes for one of my horses, Mistoffelees, as he has both Nijinsky and Secretariat blood in him. As Federico Tesio pointed out in Breeding The Racehorse, horses that run simply for the joy of running will almost certainly make the best racers, but with bloodlines like that, one has to have a little faith in his ability.

RACING DEBUTS
So far, of the younger horses, only Tenshinramman has made a racing debut - a filly by Heart's Cry, out of Hana Ramman, whose father was Sakura Yutaka O. In much the same way as Roberto blotted the "unbeatable" Brigadier Gerard's copy book, Heart's Cry was made famous after beating Deep Impact, and it's ironic that on her maiden outing, Tenshinramman was up against two of Deep Impact's kids.

The first race (1800m on turf) came in August at Niigata, which is frankly too far from where I live, so I chose to watch events unfold on the big screen at Nakayama. The starting odds had her down as fourth favourite, priced at 18.3:1, while the top Deep Impact runner, which had sold for a hefty 76,000,000 yen was almost at evens, at 1.2:1.

Well, after a nicely timed run, on the final drive for the post Tenshinramman was squashed out as the two horses in front of her closed in on each other, and the highly-experienced jockey, Katsuhara Tanaka, rightfully had to pull back. Given that, and the fact that she was still finishing hard, finishing second by three-quarters of a length (and nearly two lengths ahead of the third-placed horse) shows exceptional promise. Now this blog is at last up and running, I'll keep you abreast of progress on all the horses as things happen in the future...

HORSING AROUND
Not a Thoroughbred in sight today, other than a cookie and a pat on the nose for the favourites, but Louis had his first proper jumping lesson in the afternoon, so it may as well be recorded for the family archive. Who knows - if he makes the Olympics one day, we can look back on this moment as the starting point!

As it happens, it was watching a show-jumping event at Higashi-Kanto that first got the boy interested in riding, although Dressage became so much fun, jumping has hardly been mentioned in the two years since he started. But with Jaguar resting for the day, the hard lesson was reserved for Heart - a young Hanoverian being honed by Tokoro's Megumi Bamba as a jumper for the future.

Well, today, Louis fell off twice. But after brushing the sand away, he wants another go tomorrow and he's already talking about competition entries, so all told, it looks like the enthusiasm wasn't dented, just a little pride!

BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO MYSELF!
With my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I thought about ordering a nice signed painting of Lester Piggott I'd seen before. Lester really was the greatest jockey of them all as far as I'm concerned, making Roberto a special horse for me with his Epsom Derby win. Having Roberto as the grandfather of Jaguar (Mayano Time) makes him extra special, although Nijinsky will always be my favourite racehorse of all-time.

With the painting sold out, I started scanning websites for other signed prints and paintings, but nothing was quite as beautiful as the image I remembered and wanted. For although I have a few nice paintings, some of which I'll share with you later, I wanted something autographed. I wondered if there were any good signed photographs around after that, and stumbled upon this beauty from an English memorabilia dealer - a great picture of my favourite horse ridden by my favourite jockey, and signed by the man himself. Duly framed, the print now sits in my office - the horse things competing with the car stuff and cameras for space. The way things are going, some of the car paintings may have to go!

'JAGUAR'
When I first started riding in Japan, I was always paired up with 'Jaguar' - he was a big lad, and with my typically English proportions, it seemed the right choice. As it happens, I was working with Jaguar Japan on its dealer training programme at the time, teaching company heritage and British culture, so that was a nice link for a Coventry kid. Looking at his bloodlines, there was something else that pointed towards fate - registered as Mayano Time in his racing days, his father was Brian's Time. Wanting a horse to fulfill a childhood dream, it seemed the logical thing to ask if I could secure 'Jaguar' for my own - while he was hardly a Dressage competitor par excellence back then and his character was a little strong, to say the least, I loved him to bits. To cut a long story short, eventually the good folks at Tokoro RC agreed to release him to me, and this rough diamond duly became part of the family.

The learning process has been fun - in the early days, there was a sense of achievement on an almost daily basis! Somewhere along the line, before he moved to Tokoro, he'd obviously become distrustful of people for whatever reason, and he came with an awful reputation. I spent every lunch hour with him for weeks, and we'd eat our food together until he accepted me as someone that didn't pose a threat. Grooming was another thing that required improvisation, with brushes becoming softer and softer until he has happy - it took six months to be able to brush his whole body without being kicked or nipped!

I guess in some ways I enjoyed the challenge in becoming accepted as his friend, for like cars, if they're too easy to handle, things quickly become boring. With a wily old horse like 'Jaguar', with all sorts of tricks up his sleeve, I don't think there's much chance of boredom setting in any time soon...

When he was racing, 'Jaguar' won four races (with Yutaka Take riding him to his last win), came second three times, and third four times. But looking at his record, it was obvious that he was a bit like me - an 'all or nothing' type. Recently, though, he has started giving his all, and even won a couple of Dressage gold medals with my 12-year old boy, Louis - they've really become quite a combination. They team up again in just over a week - please wish them luck!

This first post is simply to establish what I'd like to do with this blog - if you like what you see, please stay tuned, even though it may take some time to get everything up and rolling...

Although I'm now based in Japan, my Great-Grandfather had stables back in England, and while they were destroyed during WWII, I guess that's where the love of horses stems from, as all the generations before me spent many happy hours there, and the stories were duly passed down.

First and foremost, I'm into Thoroughbreds - the majestic shape, temperament and history of these animals appeals to me, and I find bloodlines fascinating. Naturally, as someone that has followed car racing and rallying most of my life, the racing side is a hugely important angle, and the noise, colour and excitement generated at a big race is a wonderful experience. The racing world is full of equine heros and heroines, while the characters that ride, train and own them are a captivating bunch.

In the pages to come, I'd like to talk about the horses in my life - retired racehorses, present racehorses, and the yearlings that will be racehorses soon. The retired racers are now being used in Dressage competitions, bringing another avenue of entertainment for the family, while I'd like to record a few results on the current crop, highlighting some of their ancestors along the way. Of course, various people from within the horse world will be covered occasionally, too, in order to add a little spice.

I'm also very keen on equine art, and would like to show off some of the work created by the likes of Jacqueline Stanhope, David Geenty and Lisa Miller. It is my hope that these pages will bring a wider appreciation of their work, which you can inspect personally at the Funabashi Keiba track in Chiba.