CONSOLATION PRIZE 
With Miracle Rouge failing to deliver the goods yesterday, my consolation prize (other than a beer to cry in - again!) was finding the Sunday Racing supporter's scarf I wanted in the Turfy Shop. Although made outside Japan, for 1200 yen (like the Shadai version), it represents good value.

It was nice to be able to spend some quality time with Jaguar this morning, who performed like a champ even though the wind was incredibly strong. I have now made a list with the names, bloodlines and racing records of all the Thoroughbreds at Tokoro, which was a rather interesting exercise, as their history has revealed all sorts of things I didn't know before, and much of the information will be new to current owners, too.

Despite the low level of visitors to the blog from America recently (a protest from some of the things I said in the latest book perhaps?), other countries are keeping the volumes steady - another form of consolation prize. New additions to the country list include India, Turkey, Thailand, Holland, Hungary and Iraq, so we really are spreading our wings far and wide. At this rate, we should pass the 8000 visitors mark by the end of the week...

PS. That 8000 landmark has just loomed closer a lot faster than expected. No less than 150 people in France just clicked on the 'Some Of My Favourite Things' piece. Now all I need to do is figure how the rush came about, and whether it's Sophie or Jaguar that's the attraction!

TRACKS LEADING TO TRACKS
Surrounding Tokyo there's a rail line called the JR Musashino Line that must be the ultimate train ride for Keibaholics. It starts close to Minami-Funabashi, which is where the NAR Funabashi track is located, and literally within a few minutes of that station is Funabashi-Hoten, which is the stop for the Nakayama (JRA) racecourse.

If you stay on the train long enough, the Minami-Urawa station is the getting off point for the NAR Urawa track, and completing the circular tour of the Kanto area at the Fuchu-Honmachi station brings you outside the JRA Tokyo course. I'm really tempted to go to Urawa tomorrow to see Takashi Mizuno's comeback, but I really have to do some work, otherwise a certain lady in England is going to give me her 'Stern Editor' look! So from Chiba rather than Saitama: "Mizuno-san - I hope all goes well for you..."

NO MIRACLES 
Went across to Nakayama to watch Miracle Rouge in the fourth race. She was tipped as being one to watch if she cold get out of the gate in a spritely manner, and looked beautiful in the paddock, having lost 14kg. Early betting saw her at 8.7 to one, which looked like a good deal for the punters, I have to say.

Anyway, she got out the gates sharply enough, and motored around at a good pace. However, before the final run-in, she got boxed in, and there was no chance for her to show her devastating finishing speed. Only with the line in sight was she starting to build up steam, and this is a shame, for she still has to get a win-place-show finish on her record. The jockey is saying Tokyo should suit her characteristics. It would certainly be nice to get one in the bag...

PS. The trainer has since added that perhaps a little too much weight had been lost, but no real complaints. Like me, he saw a good racer whose time will come. To be honest, I don't think she would have won today - the horse that was fifth was the fastest finisher, but second or third was a good possibility had she been allowed to run as freely as the jockey wished coming off the last bend.

RACERS IN TRAINING
Mosto Verde has moved to the Saito Stable at Miho Training Centre, while Fairy Robe is looking good in training at her new home in Kawasaki. There were plans to give her a debut run on the 17th, but now it looks like it could be any time during the week beginning the 17th - in other words, sometime during the next Kawasaki meeting. I'll keep you informed.

Courtesy Shadai TC

The Shadai Thoroughbred Club NAR yearling, No.082 (pictured here), is apparently very strong and progressing quickly, with no sign of the skin problem that was present a few weeks ago. The Sunday Thoroughbred Club NAR kids, No.188 and No.190, are also dealing well with training, and although the latter is rather petite, she makes up for her small size via a beautiful running action.

Meanwhile, this month's Eclipse carries no less than four photographs of Tenshinramman in it. The magazine also contains a shot of Miracle Rouge, who'll hopefully make a similar impression in her second race tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

ANOTHER RACE WEEKEND
Miracle Rouge's race on the 8th has been confirmed now, so I'm Nakayama-bound on Saturday. In other Carrot Club news, Lourdes No Hitomi has returned to the Miho Training Centre, her hoof problem apparently sorted. She can now begin gate training in earnest and hopefully get on the road that leads to G1 in the very near future.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Quick Bread has arrived at the Konishi Stable, and everyone is happy. Indeed, Konishi-san feels he looks a lot better than when he last inspected him. After a settling-in period, he's scheduled to have more gate training next week.

And the last item for today, Mistoffelees has gone to the Northern Farm Fukushima facility for some R&R. I've been looking at the data for that last race (in the accompanying picture) and it really is a mystery - he was 4kg lighter, running 200m (one furlong) less, and yet covered the last three furlongs 1.3 seconds slower, which is an eternity at this level. Let's hope things come together in time for the next outing, as he certainly has the potential to be a winner.

PS. I've since watched the race again, and come to the conclusion that Mistoffelees needs to be let go and run at his own pace at this stage. He obviously doesn't like being surrounded, and it was actually a bump with another horse on the final run-in that completely destroyed his rhythm. Had he just been let run, like the first race, that wouldn't have happened. It's easy to say these things in hindsight (it looked like a textbook set-up for an easy win until the closing furlongs), but with horses given so few chances to show what they're made off, it's a waste of potential if allowances aren't made for a particularly nervous character...

FRANKIE DETTORI 
Shocking news from Europe, with Frankie 'Flying Dismount' Dettori being banned from racing for six months due to a positive drugs test. At first, I assumed this was a performance enhancing drug, and after being incredibly disappointed with the Lance Armstrong affair in another sport I love (cycling, and the Tour de France in particular), I couldn't believe the same stain was going to mark a jockey's silks. We all know it's a tough sport, and keeping weight alone needs the hard work of a saint sometimes, but really...

Anyway, it turns out that it was a 'real' drug, with some newspapers citing cocaine. "It doesn't matter what I took or how much," the Italian jockey said. "What I can say is it didn't make me ride any better or make my horse run any faster."

As such, the reputation of the sport is still intact. And to his credit, Dettori is saying he made a mistake at a low-point in his life - he is holding up his hands and taking the punishment handed out to him, knowing that he only has himself to blame. My only hope is that this "one night of madness" remains just that, and he comes back in May 2013 and regains his honour through results in the saddle, just like Lester Piggott did after falling on the wrong side of the law for tax evasion. 

A NEW POINT OF CONTACT
Coming home from the Japan Cup the other day, squashed like a sardine on a train that ironically looked like a giant sardine can, I got talking to one of the other passengers who kindly gave me a travel tip that saved me about half an hour and a great deal of hassle.

Anyway, you can imagine what the conversation centred on, and if you guessed horses and horse racing, you're not far off the mark! The interesting observation made during the course of this chat, at least as far as I'm concerned, was that this gentleman (in his sixties) was a Keiba lover of huge proportions, but he only ever went to JRA meetings, despite his free time allowing him to go to NAR events. I told him he didn't know what he was missing, and while I love JRA races, the special atmosphere of NAR tracks and the characters involved makes it an almost unique sporting occasion in this day and age.

Gone are the days in motor racing when I'd get a knock on the door, and one of my heroes would be standing there on his way back home from the Jaguar factory, dropping in for a cup of tea to break up the journey south. Gone are the days when I could just wander into a racing shop around the corner from my home, and be pulled in by a championship-winning team as an 'official unofficial' photographer for the weekend. Even the 'Brit Club' has come to an end now that my mother has left the States, when she and Derek Bell would nick Johnny Herbert's biscuits when he wasn't looking! It was a tight-knit community, but anyone that obviously loved the sport was made to feel welcome in it. Nowadays, everything revolves around corporate boxes, and enthusiasm counts for nothing unless it's backed up by a thick wad of greenbacks.

This is where NAR racing has the edge. It reminds me of watching the greyhounds with Bill Maynard (aka Selwyn Froggitt) as a kid, the TV star happiest when mingling with the crowd close to the action, or the speedway, when the riders considered it part of their duty to speak with fans after a meeting - the likes of Ole Olsen often left hanging around in the car park for ages until the throng of followers had dispersed. He was a multiple World Champion, but I never once saw him walk away from an autograph hunter or well-wisher. I remember most of the guys loading up their bikes on trailers, with starry-eyed kids not washing their hands for a week because they'd touched a Jawa belonging to a god. Even a lot of the top footballers went to matches on the bus back then!

Now, can you honestly see today's F1 drivers (surrounded by a wall of staff from the pit lane to their air conditioned, tinted-window residence on wheels, a type of open prison with managers, physiotherapists and food advisors as guards) doing what the Funabashi jockeys did yesterday - running a shop for charity as volunteers, outside in the freezing cold, and with absolutely no advantage in terms of personal PR?

I count myself as extremely fortunate to have known some of the greatest racing drivers of our time. Not only were they amazing on the track, but amazing human beings, too - always accessible, and always down-to-earth. I'm happy to say I've found a new breed of racers that I can say the same thing about. That human element is what makes NAR racing something very special in an age of sterile commercialism. For those who only think of going to JRA events to watch the geegees, you really should give NAR a shot. It's a breath of fresh air...

LIVING LEGENDS ARE A DYIN' BREED 
So the late, great Waylon Jennings once observed, and he wasn't kiddin' either! Those sporting heroes we used to follow religiously - the Lester Piggotts, Jackie Stewarts, Barry Sheenes, Muhammad Alis, George Bests and Ray Reardons of this world - have either retired or passed away, leaving a void in their respective field of activity. Granted, some of the voids have been filled to some extent, but these guys, like Waylon himself, were larger than life.

Thankfully, there are still a few livin' legends in our midst, and yesterday at Funabashi race track, one of them provided me with a personal highlight in what was a day full of happy memories. With apologies to a certain credit card company for using their advertising style: A betting slip - 100 yen. Seeing Masayuki Kawashima looking dandy and smiling, walking purposefully towards the paddock and obviously enjoying himself again after a bout of illness - priceless...

Please see the blog entry from 17th September 2012 to read Kawashima-sensei's profile.

FUNABASHI FROLICS
Another good day at Funabashi today, topped off by a charity goods sale with Yuta Sato, Kota Motohashi, Shotaro Kawashima, Hajime Wakita and Tatsuya Yamaguchi manning the stand. I managed to get the last jacket, and also bought a T-shirt which was duly signed by all five jockeys. This type of event is being planned for each main race day (usually a Wednesday) in the future, giving fans an ideal opportunity to have a chat with their favourite jockeys.

On the Carrot Club front, it's time to name the yearlings at last, and a few things are happening with the two-
year olds, too.

Hiroshi Kitamura - a top class Japanese jockey - is down to ride Miracle Rouge at Nakayama on Saturday, so that should be an exciting race to watch. With luck, she shall perform better than Mistoffelees did last weekend!

Mistoffelees has no damage after his last race, apparently, and that's good. That last outing of his was truly disappointing, especially when everyone was expecting so much from him. However, a little more maturity will doubtless help improve his chances in the future. He's not a bad horse, as his debut outing proved beyond doubt. Indeed, he looks likely to live up to the excellence in his bloodlines in time.

Lourdes No Hitomi is being scheduled for a gate test, and then she can be shipped off to her racing stable. She should be racing soon with any luck, and it's a similar story with Quick Bread. The trainer, Konishi-san, has been to see him in action, and has said he will him soon. At the same time, Quadrille should make her debut in January or February.

OH, DEER! 
Spectators at the Meadows Racecourse in western Pennsylvania recently got a surprise addition to the race card when three deer jumped the outer fence and ran up and down the track just as the horses were about to go out for the ninth race.

Local announcers Roger Huston and Jeff Zidek did a great job of keeping fans amused during the enforced delay by offering commentary on the race between 'Bambi' and 'Rudolph' (there was no name for the backmarker), ultimately declaring Bambi 
the winner as they jumped back over the fence and into the forest. No bets were taken on the race between the deer, at least not officially!

EARLY CHRISTMAS 
On the way back from the racing at Nakayama yesterday, I stopped off at the Turfy Shop and managed to get a yellow 'Shadai Horse Racing' scarf, although the Sunday TC version had sold out! Well, at least I've got something to save my pennies up for next weekend...

Opposite the shop, the huge beer can has been tempting me for weeks now, but I've been coming away from the track early, and thus unable to buy the real thing - somewhat smaller, but filled with amber nectar. This is the limited edition beer, produced each year for the Arima Kinen, pictured on the box of Louis' new Darth Vader riding boots. With Mistoffelees struggling, yesterday was a day for crying in my beer. Hopefully Miracle Rouge will come up with the goods on Saturday, and one of these special cans can be opened to celebrate a decent finish.

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS 
As far as Jaguar is concerned, this includes rolling around in the mud after having just been brushed, and not only knowing what's in the bag, but also knowing he's going to get the contents!

SOPHIE'S NEW JOB
Noel, one of the ten Thoroughbreds at Tokoro RC, has several ailments that tend to come to us all with the passage of time, including dodgy knees and a dicky ticker. As such, not only are his racing days behind him, but also his working life. The need to be extra careful so as not to add any unwanted pressure on delicate areas creates something of a problem, though, as he still needs to have his daily exercise and a certain amount of training to keep him mentally fit.

This is where Sophie comes in - the lightest member in the club, the little tiddler weighing three times less than me. With Sophie taking him around the outer track at a gentle pace, Noel gets the kind of work-out he needs with hardly any stress on his body - I saw horses racing today that had gained Sophie's weight since their last outing! Everybody's happy...

THE MISTOFFELEES MYSTERY 
In years to come, if Mistoffelees ever makes it to legendary status, we shall look back on today with a wry smile and a shrug of the shoulders. It was a textbook race - starting as firm favourite, he came out the gate nicely, Maruyama-san set him up beautifully all the way round, and as the whip was applied in the last couple of furlongs, faced with a clear run to the post, I'd almost started walking to collect my winnings on the little wager I'd placed. And then something weird happened - either he started going backwards, or the other horses started going faster than him, despite him supposedly being in a different league to them...

According to preliminary reports, from both the jockey and the trainer, there doesn't seem to be any explanation for this, which is frankly almost as worrying as an injury given the fine display of speed and power Mistoffelees delivered in his first outing. In reality, it's a whole lot more disappointing than Tenshinramman's defeat, because at least we know what caused it - it was just a bad rub of the green.

It could be simply an off day (we've all had those!), or maybe he was put off by being in unfamiliar surroundings? Or it could be that he doesn't like travelling long distances, and Nagoya was a fair old trek after all said and done. Perhaps he just doesn't like the type of track he was faced with this afternoon? Maybe he should have been given a free rein to run out up front as seems to be his natural desire. Anyway, I hope to have some more details on what happened out there today in the days to come.

If it was just an off day, it could be we have a Jaguar (Mayano Time) type horse on our hands - a victory followed by a disaster followed by a victory, things seemingly dependent on the position of the Moon and stars as much as the ground conditions and the strength of the horses running against him. He'd start favourite and come nowhere, then start the next race as a rank outsider and beat everything in sight. He's still the same now!