Can't Complain

You can always rely on Tosaki-kun to deliver the goods. He himself is saying he blew the start, but he still came fourth, and a close fourth at that. Who knows, this could be a combination to watch in the future - Tosaki-kun certainly has confidence in Single Cask, and is quite sure that had he got a decent start, he'd have won. Not to worry. At least today we saw a horse with heart ridden by a jockey with the determination to win, and that's all you can ask for...

On the joba front, Jaguar was in fine form today, giving Louis and Sophie a lot of enjoyment as he effortlessly blasted around the outer track. We also have a new technique to get him to move quicker after he's been tacked up - we walk him around 50 yards before mounting up, and that way, he comes out of his dozing mode and is ready to go. There can be few horses on the planet with so many habits to overcome, but what a brilliant way for the kids to learn true horsemanship!
Ultimately, I wouldn't change him for the world.

Racing Roundup

Single Cask has been confirmed for the 15th, along with Tenshinramman for the 21st. Apparently, 'Tenny' is looking good, but I've heard that before - until she crosses the line, I'm not banking on anything. Sophisticate should be out by the end of the month, otherwise all is quiet on the JRA front.

In NAR news, Agua De Vida will run in the second race at Kawasaki on the 17th (1400m - on dirt, naturally), with Seiji Yamazaki holding the reins. Phosphorus is on course for his Christmas Eve test, delivering 56.4 4F and 41.6 3F times without Kota-san applying the whip, and it's good to report that Pop Label is up and about again, with his training resuming soon. For now, he's doing some light work on a lunging rope, but it's a step in the right direction...

Tokoro Thursday

It's Thursday, which, as a rule, means an early school finish for the kids, and a chance to get some saddle time in. Today, with so many things going on at the stables, Tempai (aka 'Tenn-chan') had been released in the paddock at the same time as 'Jaguar' was providing Louis and Sophie with some enjoyable laps of the outer track.

It's rare to get a picture of these two together, despite me owning them both - all of Mayano Time (aka 'Jaguar') and a bit of Tempai, although I haven't quite figured out which bit yet! Between them, they won 11 JRA races in their day, so they're
a real pair of warriors. They can still shine when they go into competition, too.

Nothing much planned for Tempai at the moment, but 'Jaguar' has a busy schedule coming up, even though Louis will be using a different horse to challenge the All-Japan Dressage Championships. More on that later...

The 'Avonbridge Filly'

Well, my share in the 'Avonbridge Filly' is near enough to being official now, so I've added her to the bottom of the page with all the other horses I have an interest in (as soon as her proper racing name comes through, we can update the list), and the next thing to do is take a brief look at her bloodlines.

Her sire is an English horse called Avonbridge, who was a European champion sprinter, taking the GI Prix L'Abbaye as well as six other races from 22 starts. He also claimed second place four times, and four thirds - this bodes well for the filly, as she's built like a sprinter. Avonbridge's father was an old warrior called Averti, but his sire was Warning - a winner of the coveted Queen Elizabeth Stakes that carried a good dose of Roberto DNA. Imperial Jade was the dam of Averti, with Lochnager as the damsire. On the female side, Avonbridge's mother was Alessia (owned by the same people as Avonbridge), who passed on Nijinsky's precious blood via Caerleon.

The filly's dam is Pooka's Daughter, who won three races before becoming a broodmare. She passes on Danzig blood on the male side, and Statoblest blood (an Irish winner of the King George Stakes) on the female side. There's nothing amazing in the dam lines, but each of the ladies has produced its fair share of winners, with Gaelic's Fantasy and Morning Welcome between them giving birth to no less than 16 winners from 20 foals.

No nice photos as yet, so we'll post this again with a picture once she's been named - it will be easier to keep track of her then with a proper racing name in the search engine...

Fast Canter

Most of today was spent at a fast canter - Sophie blasting around the outside of Tokoro with 'Jaguar' after a lengthy warming-up period, then Louis jumping with 'Heart' (pictured) in the afternoon. I have a feeling Mephisto Waltz ran his race at a canter, too, although not quite as quick as the one 'Jaguar' was doing! I honestly believe that 'The Difficult One' - despite his age - would have done a better job on the track today. Let's face it, he has won four JRA races in the past, and his muscle tone is still pretty damned good. He'd need to lose a bit of weight to be back in winning form, but I reckon he'd show Mephisto Waltz a clean set of horseshoes as he stands.