BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN... 
It's been about a year since I last rode - a back problem that just wouldn't go away, brought on by rough sports and heavy work as a kid and made worse by sitting at a desk all day, made it virtually impossible to enjoy riding either a horse or a bicycle. But three discs cracked noisily back into place the other day, and I can now start to get my life back. Definitely need to get more stretching exercises going again, though, as mounting up was hardly the most elegant set of moves I've made in my 45 years on Earth, but it's early days on the road to recovery. At least Jaguar seemed happy to have his old sparring partner back, which made me really happy. So watch out, Hiro-san - I'll be ready for that gymkhana challenge soon! Hehehe.

KEITA TOSAKI 
For years, he was a hero on the NAR tracks in the Nankan area, and now he's making a real impact on the JRA scene as well, fighting for the title of leading jockey in this most competitive of arenas. He has a knack of making things look easy - the mark of a real champion.

Tosaki-san was born in Tochigi prefecture in July 1980. His early interest in baseball soon gave way to a passion for horse racing, which his compact build was perfectly suited to when he decided to become a jockey. He graduated from the NAR race school in 1998, making no attempt to qualify for a JRA licence at this stage in the proceedings - it takes another year to get that bit of paper.

Making his NAR race debut in April 1998, he was immediately clocking up wins for the Katori Stable based at TCK. In fact, he won on his first outing! Since then, his NAR win rate has been nothing short of astounding, claiming victory in one in every four races he was entered in. To date, he's recorded a total of 2332 NAR wins.

Tosaki-san first rode in a JRA race in 2005, with the first win coming on his birthday in 2007. By 2011, he had his first G-I victory in the bag, and duly got his JRA licence on his third attempt not long after, joining the Tajima Stable at Miho TC in the spring of 2013. So far, he's clocked up 129 JRA wins, including no less than 50 in this year already.

When he's not training and racing, this incredibly nice chap enjoys spending his spare time on the golf course. I hope you will join me in wishing him every success in the future, both on and off the track...

THE NEW HORSES #5: 

Courtesy Sunday TC

DIVINE DAUGHTER 
This is a Sunday Thoroughbred Club filly, sired by Gold Allure, who we've already profiled. The dam is an American-registered horse called De Goddaughter, who won seven races before becoming a broodmare. Her sire was De Niro, who can boast Gulch as his father - a champion sprinter with 13 wins to his name, including a number of Stateside G-I races. Her mother was Say Forever, and although she was never raced herself, her sire was Little Current, who won both the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, largely thanks to a huge dose of the best French blood, including that of Sea-Bird (winner of the Epsom Derby and L'Arc de Triomphe) and My Babu (winner of the 2000 Guineas when he was owned by The Maharajah of Baroda. It's an interesting mix in the DNA make-up, and it will be fascinating to see how this well-mannered horse performs in the JRA arena.

DEBUT TIME 
Pop Label will be making his debut in the NAR 'Fresh Challenge' race at Monbetsu on the 4th June, which is a really exciting piece of news. The highly-experienced Takafumi Hattori is at the controls, and if you want to catch the race, it's the 1200m 6R, with a gate time of 5:20pm. Fingers crossed, and hopefully we'll have a winning combination...

THE HORSE RACING SCHOOL 
This is a fascinating document, published by the JRA Racing School for those interested in joining the race industry. Founded in 1982, the school holds a three-year course allowing youngsters to finish their education and train to be a jockey or groom. As much as Louis would love to join the course, the 44kg weight limit on induction rules out any chances - he's got nearly three years of regular schooling to go, and is already 12kg overweight, despite being built like a greyhound! Looks like all hopes of having a jockey in the family will be pinned on Sophie...

BEFORE I HIT THE SACK... 
Just a quick update before calling it a day - a day once again saddened by the death of one of the top racehorses, this time Fifth Petal. There seem to be an extraordinary amount of training accidents nowadays. Add in the loss of some of the older famous stallions in the last few months, and 2013 has been a bad year for Keiba fans.

However, the new blood keeps on coming, with True Motion scheduled to make her debut at Tokyo (JRA) on the 9th June in an 1800m turf race. A week later, and Miracle Rouge is out again, with Tanabe-san in the saddle for a girls only 1800m turf bash (Tokyo 3R on the 16th). Meanwhile, Belle Plage is close to being ready to take her racing proficiency test, and Mosto Verde should be making a welcome return to the tracks at any minute.

OXER TIME 
With bad weather forecasts for the weekend, the chance was taken today for Sophie to bomb around Tokoro's outer track with 'Jaguar' once Louis had warmed him up, while the boy used 'Heart' for some jumping training. The plan was to get some experience in with so-called oxer fences - two verticals close together to form a wider fence - and he ended up consistently clearing an 80cm version that Megumi had put together. It will be interesting to see what Louis and 'Heart' can do in their next show-jumping competition given today's practice session, as they look like a good combination in this field of activity. Meanwhile, 'Jaguar' will continue to take part in dressage and gymkhana events.

AGUA NEWS 
Agua De Vida (Carrot Club) has passed her final tests at the Monbetsu track, and will therefore make her debut in the next few weeks - maybe days. Despite a slow start, she came back nicely, and both jockey and trainer are happy with her potential. You can watch the test via this link: http://movie.hokkaidokeiba.net/user-data/noken/20130528-02.asx. She's running as number 6, by the way...

Meanwhile, Pop Label (Sunday TC) may be making his debut on the 4th June in a 1200m race. It depends on the weekend's training times, so we'll keep you posted on that one.

URAWA PILGRIMAGE 
With dodgy weather forecasts and a busy tail-end to the week, I took the opportunity to go to Urawa racecourse yesterday to see Takashi Mizuno ride on home ground for the last time. Those living closer to the Saitama track will have until Friday to see the local hero - who you may remember we profiled in the blog a bit back - in action, and after that, he hangs up his signature green and yellow silks to take up a new career as a trainer. Lots of good racing and, as always, a relaxed atmosphere. It was nice to see so many fans supporting the day, especially for a Monday...

LOVE IS... PART SEVEN 
It's been a while since we've had a 'Love Is' picture, but I reckon this one - taken this morning, and showing 'Jaguar' (Mayano Time) with Louis and Sophie - qualifies nicely. The old boy is looking superb again now after shedding his rough winter coat, with the gold flecks in his colouring showing up nicely each time the sun managed to break through the clouds. Despite his abundance of onry moments, he really is a majestic creature...

CONGRATULATIONS, TAKE-SAN! 
After everyone struggled to find a good line coming out of the last corner, Yutaka Take and Kizuna came through at the last minute to claim Derby honours, and, in all fairness, the classic win couldn't have been handed to a nicer guy. You may remember we profiled Take-san some time ago in the blog, and concluded he was nothing short of a national hero in Japan. Well, after a few years in the wilderness - at least in relative terms to the peak of his career - he's back, and looking at the reaction of the immense crowd watching the race in Tokyo, it was a popular win for the majority of people. My pick for the race came a close second.