FEDERICO TESIO
Of all the breeders of Thoroughbred racehorses, few can compete with the mystique and romance afforded to the Italian master, Federico Tesio. Even his numerous quotes have a special aura attached to them, conjuring an image that's somehow hard to recreate in the modern era: "The Thoroughbred exists because its selection has depended not on experts, technicians or zoologists, but on a piece of wood - the winning post of the Epsom Derby."

Tesio started his breeding operations in 1898 at Dormello by Lake Maggiore, devising ways of raising his horses in the most natural conditions he could, promoting strength and mental well-being to allow his Thoroughbreds to perform to the very best of their ability.

Tesio's book, Breeding The Racehorse, is a classic first published in 1958, when Ribot - the finest racehorse ever produced by the Italian - was a name still on everyone's lips, and Nearco's blood was filtering through the top stables of Europe and America.

The book is a study of what makes a good Thoroughbred, and what makes them unique, from temperament to colouring, exploding many myths along the way through scientific research and a wealth of experience. It's ironic that after writing in-depth on bloodlines, in-breeding and selection of stallions and dams to give a perfect combination of explosive sprinting and staying power in the mix, the final conclusion is that chance still plays a large part in breeding!

Ultimately, Tesio would monitor his yearlings constantly, watching them move, looking for signs of a good racer - if a colt ran for the sake of feeling the wind in his mane, it stood a chance, but if it showed little interest in running for fun, no matter what the bloodlines, the great man knew he was on a sticky wicket. With Tesio, it was science in the first phase of breeding, letting nature take its course in the second, and an experienced eye in the final stages. With a record like his, few would be wise to question his techniques...

QUIET DAY
Nothing much to report today - too sleepy and way too tired to work, so I spent a lazy day getting the last of the frames and mounts ordered up for the prints, some special glue for fixing the latest batch of sculptures to their plinths, and grooming horses in-between giving them cookies. Jaguar wasn't feeling too good in the morning apparently (he will insist on crib biting - a habit he picked up early in life, which often means a mild bout of trapped wind), but he brightened up nicely ready for an afternoon riding session with Louis and Sophie.

Although the weather was positively chilly this morning, the air temperature at Tokoro was really pleasant after lunch - perfect riding conditions. Seeing as we're now into mid-October, one wonders how long it will last? After the long summer, it's easy to forget that winter is drawing in, and the Newmarket blankets will be a necessity again when exercising the horses. Should present some nice photo opportunities at least, as Jaguar always looks grand kitted out in his red, black and golden yellow stripes in the winter light.

On the subject of photography, yesterday I received some beautiful photos sent across to Chiba by a friend that have certainly made Sophie a happy bunny, as they really are special shots of a special person. Thank you! And today, the official pictures from the memorial race for my Dad arrived from Funabashi - memories of a good day. I think I can safely say the old man would have been proud...

THE RACEHORSES #9: FAIRY ROBE 

Having gone through all the JRA horses at the bottom of the page with a fair chance of running in the next few months (some have already made their debuts, of course), we may as well move over to the NAR horses, as Fairy Robe is the only other nag old enough to make the start line this year, while Jaguar and Tenn-chan have probably passed their peak by a decade! Not that you'd think the retired pair are knocking on a bit - you can still see the racing spirit in both of them...

Courtesy Carrot Club

But anyway, Fairy Robe is a charming filly by Symboli Kris S out of Angel Robe. We've covered Symboli Kris S in the Harmony Fair and Lourdes No Hitomi profiles, so no need to cover that ground again. However, Angel Robe has some interesting blood, including Admire Vega (with Sunday Silence as sire and Tony Bin as damsire) as her father, and Northern Dancer DNA in her mother's line. 

Carrot Club has just announced that Fairy Robe will be based at the NAR's Kawasaki Keiba track, assigned to the Yamazaki Stable belonging to Hiromi Yamazaki, which by coincidence has just been featured in the latest edition of Poco Poco via one of its jockeys, Hironori Sato. Hopefully, we can see her race at Funabashi in the not too distant future, but at least Kawasaki isn't that far away for a good day out. And the recent NHK documentary (aired a couple of weeks ago) made Kawasaki more appealing for me in any case - I saw plenty of passion and a love of horses, which is far more important than a glossy veneer as far as I'm concerned.

Well, this is the last of the mini-profiles for a little while, as there's no rush on the other horses I have a stake in - they haven't even been named yet. We can therefore go back to news items, jockey and trainer profiles, historical topics and so on for the moment, and gradually introduce the other racers as and when something of note happens to one of them. Or if I get bored!

THE RACEHORSES #8: QUADRILLE  

I tend to like fillies, because there's a far higher chance that they'll live to do something productive after their racing careers have ended, especially when they have all-star bloodlines like Quadrille - she was sired by HH the Aga Khan's horse, Dalakhani, who won the L'Arc de Triomphe and the Prix du Jockey Club in France, with Dance The Classics as the dam, and Sadler's Wells as the damsire. 

I have the utmost respect for the Aga Khan's stables, past and present, so having a stake in a Dalakhani horse is quite special for me. Dalakhani is by Darshaan (another Prix du Jockey Club winner), who in turn was sired by Shirley Heights - winner of the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby. Going back another generation brings in Mr Prospector and Crystal Palace, along with Mill Reef - an old favourite with victories in the Epsom Derby, the L'Arc de Triomphe and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes on his account. 

Courtesy Carrot Club

On the dam side, Sadler's Wells blood is always a bonus, bringing Northern Dancer and Hail To Reason lines together, while Dancing Brave and Blushing Groom (the latter being another important building block in the Aga Khan's stables) also feature four generations back. No wonder this horse has such a noble look about it - it's as good as equine royalty! 

Based at the Okuhira Stable at Miho Training Centre, Quadrille passed her gate test with ease, and is now taking things easy until a suitable debut slot appears. This is the last of the JRA horses that stand a chance of running this year, so next up is the NAR contender, Fairy Robe...

TAITO MORI
The visitor count blasted past the 2000 mark late last night after more than 120 people dropped in on the blog in a single day - the main traffic comes from Japan and America, sharing about 80% of the volume between them, with Britain making up the bulk of the remainder; about ten other countries crop up on an occasional basis, with folks in Russia, Germany and Switzerland clocking up regular visits. Today, I'm going to profile Taito Mori, whose blog often has my wife laughing with some of the comments he makes.

Born in Chiba in January 1981, although he had horse riding experience as a kid, Taito Mori was certainly not being primed for life as a jockey. Indeed, he ended up leaving home to pursue his dream, much against the wishes of his parents. Eventually, in March 1998, his hard work was rewarded with a jockey's licence, and he made his debut in the following month. He also took his first win, being based at Ashikaga Keiba track at the time.

In 2000, he took a break from racing to work in the stables, polishing his horseman skills, but put on silks again in 2001, registering 100 wins in the following year. In 2003, the high of a JRA debut was tempered by the closure of the Ashikaga track, and Taito moved to the Utsunomiya NAR facility as a result. However, that closed, too, and in 2005, he returned to Chiba and home territory, duly becoming attached to the Matsushiro Stable at Funabashi.

With 862 wins in NAR racing (equivalent to a 9% win rate) and a couple of JRA victories in his pocket, Taito is currently the leading jockey at the Funabashi Keiba track, and number two in the recently-released Minami-Kanto rankings. At his current pace, looking at the 2012 statistics to get a rough idea of form, his tally of wins should pass the 1000 mark by this time next year with any luck...

THE RACEHORSES #7: QUICK BREAD 

Given the slow pace of his training programme, Quick Bread is made up of slow-rising flour, I reckon, but as a Nijinsky cross (4Dx4D), his potential is bound to show through sooner or later. Actually, the baking process is just starting to bring results, with 15-second furlongs now a piece of cake for his huge frame - stark contrast to only a few weeks ago, when this gentle giant was referred to as 'Tready' in the house, as all he ever seemed to do from one day to the next was treadmill work! 

The Nijinsky blood comes via Dance In The Dark (just mentioned in the Mistoffelees profile) as the damsire, and by Caerleon (winner of the Prix du Jockey Club and one of Nijinsky's finest son's), who fathered the Irish-registered broodmare Welsh Muffin, who in turn gave birth to Sweet Muffin. Sweet Muffin then provided the world with Quick Bread - her first foal. 

The sire line is crowned by the legendary sprinter Sakura Bakushin O (11-2-1), who was fathered by Sakura Yutaka O (Jaguar's grandfather). Sakura Bakushin O's dam has Northern Taste blood in her, which of course means that Northern Dancer is in the mix, too.  

Courtesy Carrot Club

The people at the Konishi Stable at Miho Training Centre are doing a fine job bringing Quick Bread through, as his lack of maturity means it's impossible to make fast progress. I'm sure he will make a great racer, but, if nothing else, I'd love this horse as a Dressage competitor, reminding me of Nijinsky every time I saw him. It would be a fascinating experiment to take a young Thoroughbred and retrain him early on in a new discipline - it would have to be easier than teaching Jaguar new tricks! 

THE RACEHORSES #6: MISTOFFELEES 

We've already mentioned Mistoffelees a few times, as he was due to make his JRA racing debut this weekend. It's ironic, given that his first race has now been delayed, that the paperwork and photograph that Carrot Club routinely send out to say "congratulations on your horse's debut" arrived in the post this afternoon! Still, I shall keep it as a memory of what might have been...

We were talking about Miracle Rouge having good blood, but that flowing through Mistoffelees is surely tainted with gold. A Northern Dancer cross (4Sx4D), this handsome colt was sired by Dance In The Dark, who won the Japanese St Leger, and had Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Sunday Silence as his father. The damsire was none other than Nijinsky, my favourite racehorse who won the British Triple Crown, as well as the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Irish Derby.

Courtesy Carrot Club

On the mother's side, Kitten Tricks was never raced, but she has produced some excellent sons and daughters, passing on a combination of Northern Dancer and Majestic Prince blood (both Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners), as well as that of Hall of Famer Buckpasser and a certain horse called Secretariat - the famous US Triple Crown winner (you may remember I wrote about the Secretariat movie the other day).

Although Mistoffelees has been wonderful in training, probably being ready to race even quicker than Tenshinramman, he has had more than his fair share of hold-ups, from skin complaints to a typical problem of tiredness that often kicks in when training young horses. For sure, the Saito Stable at Miho Training Centre (where Mosto Verde is also based) will release him only when he's good and ready to show his full potential, and that's fine by me.

YUTAKA TAKE 

Another sleepless night! But us Brits are a tough breed - we're taught to do all manner of madcap things like sing Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life as we sit in the pouring rain at Wimbledon, eating our strawberries and cream under an umbrella waiting for the covers to come off the courts and the matches to restart. Bright side...? Think. Well, I've got back down to my fighting weight in no time, although I doubt many doctors would recommend the 'Sleepless in Chiba' diet! Notwithstanding, the bottom line is the old brain isn't really up to research work at the moment, so I may as well update the blog a bit more.

What better way to kick things off than a look at Yutaka Take - the Lester Piggott of Japan. Born in Kyoto in 1969, Take-san comes from a racing family - his father is Kunihiko Take, who had a legendary racing career in Japan, while his brother, Koshiro, is also a jockey.

Entering the JRA jockey school at 15, since then Yutaka Take has won virtually every race there is to win in the Land of the Rising Sun, some of them on several occasions, although most people will doubtless cite the Triple Crown year with Deep Impact as a career highlight.

Having been JRA's leading jockey for virtually every year for two decades, his fame is such in Japan that he even had a horse racing video game marketed under his name. And like Lester in Europe, you don't need to be a racing fan to have heard of him. So far, he has clocked up almost 3500 JRA wins, a suitably large number of NAR Dirt victories, and numerous wins abroad, including successful big race sorties in Great Britain, France, Dubai and Hong Kong.

This picture shows my crazy horse (Mayano Time, aka 'Jaguar') after winning his fourth and final JRA race with Take-san. I found it on the internet a while back, but couldn't track the owner of the image. If anyone knows where it came from, or indeed if you took the picture, I'd love to get hold of a better quality copy.

RACE UPDATE
Miracle Rouge, who we've only just written about, has passed her gate test much quicker than expected, so progress there. However, while Mistoffelees was due to make his debut on the 14th, he's been declared unfit - nothing serious, but as the first race is so important in the JRA arena, it seemed silly taking an unnecessary risk. Rather than put on a bad show or promote a full-blown injury during the stress of racing, it was decided it was better to sit this one out and fight hard another day - I can agree with that sentiment entirely, as this is a horse with real potential. Meanwhile, Tenshinramman, who was a gallant second in her maiden run, has been confirmed for the second race at Tokyo on the 21st of this month - 1800m on turf, with Katsuharu Tanaka in the saddle once more. Ganbatte, Tanaka-san!

TAKASHI HARITA
In addition to having a reputation as a talented cook and being extremely good at pouring wine, as I found out at the Funabashi open day a bit back, Takashi Harita can ride a racehorse just as well, and probably even better.

Born in March 1964 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, this wily old character has shown that he can still mix it with the youngsters, clocking up 2405 NAR victories - equivalent to a 12% win rate, which is truly remarkable given such a long career.

Attached to the Okabayashi Stable at Funabashi, Takashi-san got his jockey's licence back in 1981, winning his first NAR race in the April of that year, only eight days after starting his professional career. In 1994, he took fourth place on his JRA debut, and although he had to wait until April 2002 before collecting the winner's laurels at this level, it was nonetheless an impressive achievement as the horse he rode to victory was a rank outsider. He now has no less than seven JRA wins under his belt, and will doubtless pick up a few more.

NEW SCULPTURES ARRIVED
Just when you think things can't possibly get worse, someone always has something up their sleeve to make sure they do indeed get worse - much worse! But do I care? Well, yes, I do actually, although it's no good moaning about it because nobody listens anyway!

At least today the postman brought a new batch of David Geenty sculptures to my doorstep. Five came in total, with some to replace stuff that had sold earlier, and some I'm trying as new lines, but all having one thing in common - the fact they were handmade in the UK, which is something that's becoming increasingly rare nowadays.

I'd forgotten just how beautiful the first piece to be unwrapped was - it's called On Parade, and this is it pictured, albeit badly, as my super-duper, all-singing, all-dancing pocket camera is still in for repair! Keep your eyes open at the Tokoro shop at Funabashi Keiba track, as I quite often display the David Geenty sculptures on the bigger race days. If you want one, be quick to secure it, as the full horse or horse and rider renderings never stay on show for long...

THE RACEHORSES #5: MIRACLE ROUGE 

Now this beauty, a Sadler's Wells cross (3Sx4D), I have quite a few shares in. She appears to run like a bandy-legged donkey chasing a carrot on Blackpool beach, but boy does she get the job done! I guess looking at the all-star bloodlines, if she didn't run hard, it would throw the established theories of the entire Thoroughbred breeding industry into disruption... 

Miracle Rouge was sired by Meisho Samson, who won the Japanese Derby and the Japanese 2000 Guineas, and has Opera House down as his father - a King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner, as was his father before him, Sadler's Wells. The damsire was Dancing Brave, another KG&QE winner, who can also log victories in the English 2000 Guineas and the L'Arc de Triomphe on his account. And High Top should also be mentioned as another classic winner in the mix, having won the 2000 Guineas in 1972.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Miracle Raiser, the dam, is by El Condor Pasa, with an 8-3-0 record from 11 starts in top class racing, while going back another generation brings in Kingmambo and Fuji Kiseki. A further generation backwards kicks in Mr Prospector, Miesque, Assert, Sunday Silence, and Sadler's Wells again, one of Northern Dancer's finest.

Although this attractive filly has shown signs of real speed from early on, she has yet to go for her gate test, as the Uehara Stable at Miho Training Centre are still trying to improve her form via a neck stretch band to get even more performance from her frame. I have a feeling the patience will pay off handsomely on this one...

THE RACEHORSES #4: MOSTO VERDE 

Courtesy Carrot Club

Mosto Verde is a colt by the Japan Derby winner, Tanino Gimlet, out of Easy Lover. Tanino Gimlet was sired by Brian's Time (Jaguar's father), which means Roberto and Hail To Reason blood. The damsire was Crystal Palace (winner of the Prix du Jockey Club - the French Derby, in effect), and going back further on Tanino Gimlet's dam line brings in the legendary Sea-Bird, who won the Epsom Derby and the L'Arc de Triomphe. 

Easy Lover is actually quite an interesting horse, as she is registered as Canadian, but had a successful racing career on both turf and dirt in Chile (13-6-1 from 24 starts) before her era as a broodmare began. Some of her children have put in remarkable performances, so by mixing her blood with that of Yuzo Tanimizu's star stallion (Vodka is without doubt the star mare to come from his stable), it should give a formidable combination in terms of strength and speed, at least on paper.

Looking at the bloodlines, it's easy to see where Easy Lover gets her pace from, with Alwasmi (by Northern Dancer) as her father, and Bustino (a St Leger winner) and Highclere (one of HM the Queen's finest racehorses, taking 1000 Guineas honours as a youngster) being in his DNA make-up. On her dam side, In Reality and Foggy Note won a large number of races between them, and Northern Dancer features again if we go back a fifth generation.

The Saito Stable at Miho Training Centre have been slowly building up the muscle tone of this playful little character, with constant 17-second furlong times on the dirt course. The pace of the programme is due to pick up any minute, but there's still no sign of a debut as yet. I'll be sure to keep you up-to-date with any further developments...

ORFEVRE IN PARIS
Couldn't sleep, so decided to stay up and watch Orfevre's challenge for capturing L'Arc honours in Paris. In the days leading up to the race, there was already a lot of excitement, with certain top horses being withdrawn for various reasons, and Frankie Dettori getting a ride on Camelot - the horse that has bagged the most money in England so far this year, and probably the nag my wager would have gone on had I been asked to place just one bet. Although jockey Christophe Soumillon declared himself "delighted" with Orfevre's condition, a spell of heavy rain and an unfortunate gate allocation added to the drama, even before the horses came under starter's orders.

In the race itself, Orfevre was using a pacemaker nicely, staying out of trouble on the outside at the tail-end of the pack, and blasted away down the lengthy final straight with authority. With two furlongs to go, it looked like it was all over, but Solemia came from nowhere to pip the Sunday Thoroughbred Club horse at the post. Such was the difference in speeds in the last few metres, it was almost as if Soumillon thought he had the race tied up and stopped trying, or maybe the softer ground simply took its toll after a long, hard sprint? For sure, I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the debriefing room! But the bottom line is, once again, the French classic has managed to defy the Japanese contingent... 

SHOTARO KAWASHIMA
One of my first blog entries, made back in mid-September, was a piece on the legendary trainer, Masayuki Kawashima. All four of Kawashima-sensei's sons work at the Funabashi Keiba track in various roles, with his second youngest boy, Shotaro, being a jockey riding for the MK Stable.

Shotaro was born in Chiba in October 1990, and made his debut as a jockey in May 2008. His first race was for his father's stable, while his first win came whilst riding one of the horses from the stable belonging to his brother, Masakazu Kawashima.

Three months after his debut, Shotaro became the youngest ever winner of the dirt grade Cluster Cup, which probably had a large bearing on him picking up the NAR 'Best Newcomer' award. With 136 race victories to his name so far, and an impressive win rate of almost 16%, the future doubtless holds a lot of promise. One thing is for sure, the pride attached to the Kawashima name in NAR racing is being suitably upheld by this quiet but tough competitor...

TOKORO CLINIC
Isn't it strange that in a country with 126 million people in it, you sometimes (all too often!) feel the only creature that truly understands you - or even wants to try - is a man's horse. Well, being realistic, I may only get the special treatment from Jaguar when he wants a cookie, but at least we can communicate thoughts on what we need from each other and not be prejudiced or overly judgmental on the stuff we don't understand.

Today, Jaguar knew he was needed for a training clinic with Miyaki-sensei, and although he was in a foul mood when he was being saddled up, he performed brilliantly once his time slot came up. While Jaguar being in the mood counts for a lot on the day, Louis has probably polished up a few areas in his riding skills to make up the five points that make the difference between fighting for the lead and coming last. This old underdog has probably fought for the last time (too tired to fight any more!), but Louis and Jaguar proved today that they can take things to the final bell now.

The other news is that Sophie made her clinic debut. The conclusion is that she could still do with growing a little more to improve her chances of greater control through better leg signals, but she impressed everyone with her spirit. Being sensible, it's perhaps best to delay her first competition outing until next spring, but she's not far off what's needed now, and she's certainly a whole lot better at riding than I am...