Basket Of Carrots

Mephisto Waltz is back at Ritto TC, and Harmony Fair has resumed a proper training programme. I can't understand what has happened to Irish Harp, as her work-out times are truly awful. The trainer is thinking of a race early in the next Kyoto session, but I don't hold out much hope - the gap on September's posted times is huge, with or without the whip being much the same back then, as if the horse has lost the will to run!

The Tenshinramman saga continues, with a wild work-out time, which started slow and picked up to a good pace (11.9 seconds) even without the whip. I don't know how to interpret a move to a mile over turf, but anyway, Tanaka is supposed to be taking up the reins for the 10R at Nakayama on the 25th. We should get confirmation of the entry next Thursday.

Water Of Life

Courtesy Carrot Club

If there's one thing in life you can guarantee, it's that the Yamazaki family will look after their horses properly and will try everything possible to develop a winner in a caring manner. According to the latest report, Agua De Vida (pictured here) is looking good for a Kawasaki run at the end of the month, complete with a new bit and maybe blinkers.

Yamazaki-san makes me laugh when he writes about the dirt course at the Kawasaki training centre, because, if you know the place, you wonder what the options are. But on that piece of land close to the river, and in the other NAR facilities dotted around the country, the NAR boys - and girls - do their very best in conditions that are a long, long way from perfect, and I respect that immensely. Long live NAR!

Only Fools & Horses

Courtesy Hermes

Today's batch of reports from Carrot Club contained at least one glimmer of hope, with Single Cask's trainer acknowledging 1200m was the right distance for this horse. He's also putting 1200m over turf back on the agenda, with 1200m over dirt as an option. Progress.

The missus, having got me to promise to buy no more horses until some fresh spondulics come through, promptly went window shopping at Hermes, as you do! Well, I suppose there's no harm in browsing, especially when you haven't been down the town for a while. She spotted this, which should be of interest to race fans.

Here We Go Again

Quite a few Carrot Club reports have started filing in, but nothing beyond 'treadmill' on most of them, which has become the norm over the last 12 months - I honestly think 'Jaguar' has a harder training regime, and he retired from racing over a decade ago! Harmony Fair is back at Miho Training Centre, but as the worst of the four year olds by far, I'm still not really in the mood for doing backflips down the hallway in fits of enthusiasm.

All sorts of niggling little jobs to clear at the moment, including a book deadline that has suddenly appeared a lot closer in the mirror than when I last thought about it, otherwise I'd be moving the next plan of action on the racehorses in the right direction. At least Louis' 2014 campaign is sorted, with a lease on 'Orion' for the dressage competition in the All-Japan Championships, and Sophie is getting there, too, with a dogged determination one doesn't usually see in a young girl that only had her 11th birthday a couple of days ago. Although I don't tell them, I'm proud of them both...

The Lord's Filly

Sounds a bit fruity, but I've just heard from the West Ilsley Stables in England that the Avonbridge Filly is coming along nicely, and we can expect a more detailed progress report in the early part of next month. Should be fun following this one!

Lazy Monday

Today was a Bank Holiday in Japan, so the day was spent at the stables - the third in a row - making the most of the dry weather. There was even a chance to get a little jumping in with 'Heart' for Louis today, as the ground had thawed out nicely and left a soft but grippy surface for a change. This meant Sophie was free to bomb around the outside track as much as she wanted with 'Jaguar' as soon as he'd warmed through, and now he's back in perfect condition again after an enforced rest last week due to a slight tummy ache - something hard to avoid as the cold chill sets in over Chiba.

With only one JRA horse running all over the long weekend, nothing further to Saturday's disaster to report on that front, although Irish Harp (IH) has returned to Ritto from its R&R session. This was my first pick of all the 2012 Carrot Club horses. It started second favourite in its debut outing and came fourth. Everyone was full of confidence, rubbing their hands as a fourth favourite status at the start of its next race promised a good return for those putting down a few bob, and, with a final 3F time a full 1.6 seconds slower than before, it finished a poxy 12th! On those ratios, let's hope it doesn't start fifth favourite or worse in its next run! Forgive me for not being overjoyed at the prospect of another race for IH soon, but it's soul destroying to have to keep watching good horses underperform.