Charting Progress

It was asking a lot of Pop Label (left) to win yesterday, being a race of the best selected horses from B2 and B3. However, having seen his run, it wasn't beyond his ability. Indeed, had he not thrown a wobbly in the gate, one can well imagine he'd have done better than the fifth place he picked up. First, he was the youngest of the NAR horses, and of the six JRA runners, we beat five of them with ease, including Sheikh Mohammed's pony. Add in the fact that he's still coming back from a long spell away from the track due to injury, and I believe it was a fabulous run yesterday - something to build on. Yuta Sato, his trainer, is suggesting a B3 race at the next Funabashi meeting, with his jockey recommending a mile. We shall see.

Meanwhile, Phosphorus should be lining up at Kawasaki about ten days from now, and Beat The Boarder should be out at TCK again at the end of the month, looking for a dry track and a better gate position to give her a chance.

Remarkably, I have a stake in 16 JRA horses, and - again! - nothing running over the weekend. I honestly believe I get better value on a weekly basis from running the two horses in Australia - at least they compete, deliver good results, and cost a fraction of what their Japanese counterparts do to keep. Some of them haven't raced for two or three months, and there's no excuse that's it's too hot now! Thankfully the Carrot Club NAR horse looks the part, otherwise the complete portfolio would be a waste of time and money...

Courtesy Carrot Club

Notes worth relaying on the JRA front include Kalliopeia passing her gate test, and J'ai Un Reve (right) is said to be getting there now - a good job considering the amount of money he owes me! Time For Love had a successful operation, but the chip was worse than everyone thought. To me, there's no alternative but to retire the thing, and let it have a new life as a riding horse ASAP. War Chronicle is supposed to be running in a mile turf race at Nakayama on the 13th with Nori Yokoyama in the saddle, but his last practice time was awful, so I don't think we can expect much there. Likewise, Harmony Fair is lined up for the 21st at the same track in an 1800m dirt race. The fact she hates dirt has obviously been lost in the old race notes, but I guess the new trainer has a right to try, and if she gets out the gate quickly, who knows?

As for Australia, Pretty Gully teams up with Justin Stanley at Townsville on Saturday, and that's definitely something to look forward to. She goes into the race with a 7-6-3 record, with two of those seven wins coming since she's been with me and her new, tight-knit team of shareholders.