RACERS REVISITED #1: TENSHINRAMMAN 

It's been a while since these mini-profiles first appeared, so I'm putting them back up with their race records so far, ultimately making the introductions on the new horses flow easier as a series. Starting in the order these pieces originally appeared means it's Tenshinramman first...

Tenshinramman was the first of the new batch of racers to make her debut. She's by Heart's Cry out of Hana Ramman. Heart's Cry was the first horse to beat Deep Impact, and also won the 2005 edition of the Arima Kinen, which, although not a classic race in the true sense, it's a classic of sorts as it brings the best of the best together at Nakayama to provide a stunning G1 finale for the end of the year.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Anyone that knows me will appreciate the value I place on Hail To Reason blood, and Heart's Cry's father is US Hall of Famer, Sunday Silence, who was sired by Halo, who in turn was fathered by Hail To Reason. On the dam's side, we can see Tony Bin and Northern Dancer blood combining.

Tenshinramman's mother was sired by Sakura Yutaka O, himself a legend, but his bloodlines read like a who's who of the golden age of British horse racing - Hyperion, Nasrullah (by Nearco out of Mumtaz Begum), Big Game, Never Say Die, and a list as long as your arm of heroes from an earlier era. The mother's dam was Fight Boron, bringing Nasrullah into the equation again, this time via Mill Reef - winner of a number of major races, including the Epsom Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England, and the l'Arc de Triomphe in France.

Based with the Ito Stable at Miho Training Centre, this picture shows Tenshinramman in her first race, when she came second in a classy field at Niigata. She duly went one better in Tokyo in her next race, winning with her regular jockey, 'Kacchi' Tanaka. The Artemis Stakes was a disaster, but it wasn't really anyone's fault, and revenge was sweet with a second place and another win.

Her sixth race was today, and what a performance! Having been second favourite for the G-II Flora Stakes last night, she slipped to fifth in the betting after people factored in the number 18 starting slot. The poor thing ran the long way around for 2000m, got blocked on the last bend, yet still finished fourth, pipped by a nose - the third-placed horse raised its head as she dropped hers!! Her time over the last 3F was 34 dead, but 'Kacchi' hardly lifted the whip. With a 2-2-0-2 record, if she doesn't make The Oaks, there's no justice...