Sixth

What can I say? There was a flash of the old Tenshinramman that we all know and love, backed up by the fact that she was the fastest in the field over the last three furlongs - in fact, only one other horse came close to her! But the bottom line is, she finished sixth, 0.3 seconds down on the winner. Now, had Tanaka not given the leaders a needless ten-length head start (the exit from the gate put her in the middle of the pack), it would have been a different story. It was an odd race tactic, to say the least, especially given the relatively short distance of a mile. I would normally conclude there was a glimmer of hope in the result, but this is Tenshinramman, not Harmony Fair, or even Miracle Rouge. She's a winner and a fighter by nature, and for the trainer to say in the newspapers that she "has speed and power but no race sense" is beyond belief. He should look to his own ability and that of the jockey before blaming a horse with two seconds and two firsts from her first five runs for poor results...

PS. With the benefit of watching a replay, it was closer to a 20-length head start. Today's blame for not winning lies firmly with the jockey for letting the leaders get too far ahead. Tight leg bandages and a lack of race sense doesn't come into it! To lose by just over two lengths in a classy field is a remarkable show of strength given what she had to make up. With Tosaki-san up, she would have won by five or six lengths today. I guess the trainer will now put her on a lengthy R&R session, and we have the race rust problem again - a lot closer to reality as an explanation for her last bad run than not having race sense. Despair is setting in, as this is about the only Carrot Club horse that has a realistic chance of delivering the goods.