WHAT'S THIS I FEEL? 
After a bit of consultation with others around me, the general agreement is that it's called warmth! Yes, I'm sure I remember something like it from my past, but it seems long ago. Joking aside, today's weather was absolutely perfect for equine fun - not too cold, not too hot, and no wind or rain. As such, it was actually a pleasure watching the kids training rather than a twisted form of punishment...

Meanwhile, I've been watching some National Hunt racing in Ireland, and I have to say I'm pretty excited by the thought of being involved somehow. Watch this space.

PS. Welcome to Taiwan and Columbia as two more countries tuning into the blog for the first time. 

LOVE IS... PART FOUR 
One of Sophie's birthday presents was a replica set of silks from Maiko-chan, skillfully made by hand to fit the popular Duffy character that's a huge hit in Japan. It just so happens to also fit one of Sophie's Christmas presents, which is perfectly suited to supporting a jockey...

The next three days - cold as they are - will be dedicated to some final training in preparation for Louis' next competition at the end of the month, and Sophie's debut, which you can expect soon, now she's memorized the patterns to follow.

FUNABASHI FROLICS 

Yesterday was Sophie's tenth birthday, so to celebrate, she tagged along with me to Funabashi for the Keiba. Lots of nice presents and surprises for the girl, a wonderful day of racing 

for me (as is the norm in NAR), and a chance to meet up with friends, old and new...

CARROT CONFAB 
The report on Harmony Fair says she's looking good, and she has been booked for the ninth race (1600m on turf) at Nakayama on the 19th of this month; Masayoshi Ebina has been signed up as the jockey - the man that guided her to victory on her debut.

Lourdes No Hitomi's training moved to a different type of track, where her performance was satisfactory, although Quadrille has improved to the extent where there are thoughts of entering her in an 1800m turf race at Tokyo-Fuchu on the 27th. While this has yet to be confirmed, talk of a definite debut date is a sure sign of good progress at the very least.

THE RETURN OF 'TENNY' 
The reports filtering through from Carrot Club indicate that Tenshinramman is in superb form. If she can hold onto it by the time the race comes along at the end of the month, she'll be unbeatable. It will be nice to make amends for that loss on her record from the last Stakes race...

In addition, Fairy Robe - the only NAR runner ready for action this year - is set to make her debut in the final week of January or the first day of February, depending on the openings at Kawasaki. Details will follow soon, although I guess the jockey will either be Seiji Yamazaki or Hiro Sato - both fine exponents of the art of racing.

PS. Welcome to our viewers from Saudi Arabia - the 40th country to check out the blog.

TEATIME TATTLE 
According to today's reports from Carrot Club, Mosto Verde, Miracle Rouge and Mistoffelees are continuing a programme of gentle training, while Quick Bread is having a short break before taking his gate test. I'm looking forward to Mistoffelees showing what he's capable of again in the near future.

Like me, Jaguar's diet starts... well, let's just say sometime soon! Today, 'The Difficult Horse' had a couple of carrots when I dropped in on him in the afternoon, but having seen Furioso's feast yesterday, I figured Jaguar shouldn't be left out of things.

THE FIRST FUNABASHI MEETING OF 2013
As well as some truly great racing yesterday, there was also a final chance to say goodbye to Furioso before he starts a new phase in his life as a stallion.

Keita Tosaki took this beautiful horse for a lap of honour at a gentle canter before he was paraded in front of the finishing post during the ceremony officially marking his retirement as a racehorse. A lucky few - including Louis and Sophie - were then given the opportunity to have their picture taken alongside the legend before he went back to his stables to eat a string of carrots that hung around his neck. I reckon I know another horse that wouldn't mind taking on that particular task!

SHADAI YEARLING UPDATE

Courtesy Shadai TC

Steady progress has been reported on the Shadai Thoroughbred Club front, with No.082, the Mejiro Venus
colt (the bay horse with a star on the forehead seen to
the right) looking good at 485kg, with plenty of muscle building up that remains supple.

Courtesy Sunday TC

Of the Sunday TC kids, the After Beat filly (No.190) still
has a very small frame but has a nice action that makes
up for it and shows promise, while the Pop Chart colt
(No.188) is a big lad at 494kg, and calming down nicely. Like the Shadai TC yearling, these are NAR runners, but No.126 (the chestnut in these pictures) is a very pretty
JRA filly, seemingly full of life, which is always good to
see in a youngster.

Names should be decided soon, with any luck, along with those for the new batch of Carrot Club yearlings. It will be nice to be able to identify them by a name rather than a number...

KATSUHARU TANAKA 
Katsuharu 'Kacchi' Tanaka will always have a special place in my heart, as he rode my first winner - Tenshinramman. Indeed, the picture, albeit poor quality due to the ban on flashguns, captures the moment at Tokyo-Fuchu last October.

Born in Hokkaido in February 1971, and brought up around horses due to his father's involvement in a stud farm and as a racehorse owner, he made his JRA debut in March 1989, claiming his first victory a few months later, in the October of that year. As a new jockey, progress was slow, but Tanaka soon started to make an impact, with over 100 wins in 2007 and his berth in the Super Jockeys Series being testament to the fact.

So far, Katsuharu-san has clocked up 1555 wins, with a similar number of second and third place finishes, from a total of around 16,000 rides. In the ultra-competitive JRA arena, this is very impressive, and the fact that 'Kacchi' wants to ride Tenshinramman so much, in my eyes at least, points to a combination with great potential. I hope you will join me in wishing them both luck for the 27th!

PS. For those of you who can read Japanese (the majority of viewers, it seems), you can access his blog via the following link: http://ameblo.jp/katsuharu-biyori/. All good stuff!