Porthos Du Vallon

The latest addition to the foot of the page is Porthos Du Vallon - I adore the romance attached to the name, and love the bloodlines of this big lad, so I've dodged a few missiles in the house and joined the Lamont Racing equipe of Scotland to secure a stake in my first steeplechaser. His flat racing career showed promise, but there are hopes his jumping career will quite literally take off.

'Porthos' was sired by Jeremy, an American-registered Stakes winner that stood at the Irish National Stud for a while, and has already sired a fair few winners. Looking at his bloodlines, it's not that surprising really - Danehill Dancer as his father, and the great Danehill further up the DNA chain. Danehill we covered in the Massabielle profile, but a few more lines are justified on Jeremy's dam - Glint In Her Eye, as she combines Arazi blood (see Godiva's Pride) with that of Wind In Her Hair. Although it's ironic that I'm more interested in her grandmother, Highclere (one of HM the Queen's finest racehorses, taking 1000 Guineas honours as a youngster), this broodmare is highly sought after in Japan, as she gave birth to Deep Impact.

On the dam side, Princess Caraboo was never raced, but her female line has delivered some impressive results, with Shirley Heights by Mill Reef and Vienna DNA added into the equation. Her sire was Alzao, who has fathered over 100 Stakes winners, and was also BMS to Deep Impact, which is interesting given what we've just said about Wind In Her Hair blood.

Naughty Cat

Let down badly with the Carrot Club horses yet again this afternoon - this time Mistoffelees came home in 11th at Nakayama a few minutes ago. Although the final 3F time was fourth fastest, living up to the promise he'd been showing in training, the final result doesn't sit well on his record, whichever way you look at it...

At least there was a sign of brightness at Tokoro this morning, with Louis training hard with 'Orion' in readiness for their Dressage competition, while Sophie did a good job with 'Jaguar' in her respective Dressage category. Just wish I could have got back in the warm to receive some better news from the track. I can't even drown my sorrows, as I have to drive again later. Damn! Might as well get on with some work, I suppose.

Shunned

A few extra notes have filtered through. With the Carrot Club newcomer reports all filed, War Chronicle and Eclat De Reve are the ones that stood out as those making progress this time around. On the NAR front, Shun Ishizaki has been called up for duty with Agua De Vida on the 4th (they are booked for the 1500m 2R at Kawasaki), while the Sunday TC horse, Beat The Border, is expected to return to the TCK facility next week. It will be remembered that Shun gave 'BTB' her debut run...

By the way, Pop Label appeared in this month's edition of Thoroughbred - can't wait to see this super horse back in action, based where he belongs in the MK Stable run by the Kawashima family.

2012 Crop Revisited: War Chronicle

Courtesy Carrot Club

This beautiful filly, by War Emblem out of Chronologist and stabled with Yuichi Shikato, can be classed as something of a rarity, as War Emblem has sired less than 100 foals in the last decade - not much of a record for a stallion, but it's not that he's not in demand, and not that his offspring can't cut the mustard, it's simply that he struggles to perform off the track.

War Emblem was quite magnificent in his racing days, winning two legs of the US Triple Crown by taking the honours in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. He was sired by Our Emblem, one of Mr Prospector's strongest kids, with a 5-5-5 record. On his dam side, Brigadier Gerard stands out as being a special ingredient in his DNA make-up, as a horse that was supposedly unbeatable. Considering this bloodline, the French-registered General wasn't all that amazing on the track, but Lord At War (War Emblem's damsire) had a stunning career, claiming no less than ten victories.

The dam is Chronologist, who only had two races, but came first and third in them. She is a Raise A Native cross, and with Raise A Native also appearing in the sire's bloodlines, that may make things interesting. Officially, though, the extra Mr Prospector blood makes the new filly a Mr Prospector cross (3Sx4D). Chronologist's sire was Kurofune, who we've looked at a few times, and in the most depth when we profiled Agua De Vida. Her mother is In This Unison, who was never raced, but carried a good helping of Sunday Silence blood, which has helped her produce a couple of winners in the past.

2012 Crop Revisited: Eclat De Reve

Courtesy Carrot Club

This is a filly by Stay Gold, who will be based at the Yoshimura Stables at the Ritto TC. Stay Gold had an incredibly long racing career of 50 outings with only seven wins to show for it, but his fame as a sire has reached fever pitch with the success of Orfevre. He continues the Sunday Silence line nicely, with a lot of French and Canadian blood on his dam side, including that of Dictus (by Sanctus) and Northern Taste (by Northern Dancer).

The dam is Imprevu, who was sired by Twining - a winning stallion that carried on the Forty Niner line that we covered a couple of profiles ago via the Heart's Cry kid. He also passed on some beautiful old school blood from his mother, including that of Never Bend (meaning Nasrullah, Nearco and Blenheim) and War Admiral by Man O'War. Her damsire was Topsider by Northern Dancer, who won a few minor races, but Sir Gaylord is in her DNA make-up, and that means an awful lot. I think we can expect a good, solid performer here...

More Dates

Courtesy Shadai TC

Mistoffelees has been confirmed for the 7R at Nakayama on the 1st (Saturday), and Phosphorus is down for the 2R (1200m) at Kawasaki on the 6th. This doesn't tie-up with Agua De Vida's race, so I'll have to make a decision closer to the day to see if a visit to the other side of the bay can be justified. It will be interesting to see how Phosphorus (pictured here with Egawa-kun) can perform on the tighter track, although the extra furlong will doubtless help his cause.

Miracle Rouge is being lined up for a mile turf race at Nagoya on the 16th with Hironobu Tanabe in the saddle, while Dinner Bell is expected to race within the next two or three weeks. As for Classic Curl, I think I'll be old and grey when it finally hits the track.

Spent some good quality time with 'Jaguar' this afternoon, and most of yesterday evening buying into another horse - yes, the missus has me on a strict spending ban officially, but she knows I've been after a steeplechaser for a long time, and this big fella had so many personal appeal points, it was let slip through the net. With a couple more projects out the way, and a real disappointment on the car front, we'll call it stress relief! I'll put something up on the blog as soon as I get five minutes...

2012 Crop Revisited: Perfumer

Based at the Takayanagi Stables at Miho Training Centre, this spritely colt is a Northern Dancer cross by Heart's Cry, who we've looked at before when profiling our most successful JRA runner that is still active in racing, Tenshinramman. As such, there's no need to go over him again, suffice to say that he was the first horse to beat Deep Impact in a straight fight, and his blood is certainly well-respected in this house.

Courtesy Carrot Club

The dam is Xiangshui, who managed to win one race before becoming a broodmare. Her father is Swept Overboard, who had an incredibly solid career on the tracks, even though there were no classic wins in amongst the eight he chalked up. The interesting DNA continues in the sireline, with End Sweep and Forty Niner, the latter (by Mr Prospector) being a multiple Black Type winner that was also second in the Kentucky Derby. Her mother was a Lady Angela cross called Dyna China, with Northern Taste as her sire a strong Argentinian horse by the name of El Centauro as her damsire. I have a feeling it will be well worth watching this one, assuming the trainer can get the best out of it...

Interesting!

Sophisticate is going on holiday, which is definitely the wrong decision, but there we go! Irish Harp is being groomed for a 1400m dirt or turf run, which makes a lot more sense. She should run either next week or the week after, and apparently Mirco Demuro is being lined up as the jockey. Personally, I would stick with his brother, Cristian, as he now knows the horse, and did a good job in difficult situations - a lack of a win in those last two outings can be blamed fairly and squarely on the training staff, not him.

Mistoffelees is booked for the 1st March at Nakayama in a 1200m dirt race. Saito-san has chosen a young jockey making his debut, Yukito Ishikawa, as he can take advantage of a lower 54kg weight limit. Born in 1995, Ishikawa is being left to his own race plan, which is fair enough in a sprint - you have to read conditions as they unfold by the second. This is one to look forward to.

Divine Daughter is supposed to be in the same race a week later, but reserved for fillies only. And then we have Tenshinramman lining up for the Kamagaya Tokubetsu race (1800m over turf) at Nakayama on the 23rd. Meanwhile, on the NAR front, Agua De Vida looks to be booked for the 4th. If Phosphorus runs on the same day, it might be worth the trip to Kawasaki...

2012 Crop Revisited: Rush Attack

Courtesy Carrot Club

This is one Louis was desperate to get hold of as soon as he saw the Carrot Club catalogue - a colt by Agnes Digital, who won all manner of big races on both turf and dirt in Japan and Hong Kong, racing no less than 32 times! He was sired by the quaintly named Crafty Prospector, who carried the blood of Mr Prospector in his veins. His dam was sired by Chief's Crown, who was the only horse to be favoured in all three US Triple Crown events and not win any of them. But a second and two thirds in these ultimate American races is impressive nonetheless, with his blood being a fine mix of Danzig and Secretariat DNA. Alleged blood is added into the gene pool via the female lines.

Mejiro Hilary was sired by the legendary El Condor Pasa, with Mejiro Dober as her dam. Mejiro Dober was also the mother of Mejiro Lourdes, who we've had as a dam for two of the horses I've bought stakes in. We've looked at these before, but need to note that El Condor Pasa's pedigree adds Mr Prospector into the equation once more, thus officially making this colt a Mr Prospector cross (3Sx4D).

2012 Crop Revisited: Time For Love

Courtesy Carrot Club

This attractive filly is by Neo Universe out of Time Will Tell. We looked at Neo Universe when we profiled Joyful Step (one of the previous year's crop), and concluded that his winning ways came courtesy of a combination of a lot of blood from old school legends. We should mention his sire was the highly-respected Sunday Silence, while the broodmare sire was Kris, who had a good, solid racing record in Britain, and that puts things into perspective.

The dam is Time Will Tell, who chalked up seven top three finishes on the track. More good DNA in her make-up, with Brian's Time as her father (bringing in the Roberto and Hail To Reason blood I love so much), as Sadler's Wells as her damsire - it doesn't get much better than that. Ultimately, she is classed as a Kris (3Sx4D) and Hail To Reason (4Sx4D) cross, and is based at the Nakagawa Stables at Miho Training Centre.

2012 Crop Revisited: J'ai Un Reve

Based at the Yasutoshi Ikee Stable at Ritto TC, which is where Orfevre is trained, this is a colt sired by Montjeu, which is something that naturally holds huge appeal for me as a Brit. The Irish-registered Montjeu won 11 races, including the Prix du Jockey Club (the French Derby), the Irish Derby, the L'Arc de Triomphe, and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, making him a legend.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Montjeu was sired by Sadler's Wells, a horse I love dearly, bringing together the best combination of Nearco, Hail To Reason, Native Dancer, Hyperion and Mahmoud blood in the business. His dam was a French horse called Floripedes, who picked up a 2-1-2 record from five starts, largely thanks to the DNA of the Aga Khan's Top Ville, and Charlottesville from the same stable - both winners of the Prix du Jockey Club.

The dam for the newcomer is Reve D'Iman, and although the race record of this Sir Gaylord cross (standing at 1-1-1 from 13 starts) is hardly anything to write home about, she does have a well-earned reputation for producing good foals. Looking at her pedigree, it's hardly surprising, as we have Highest Honor - a strong French stallion - as her sire, adding Kalamoun blood as well as Nasrullah and Princequillo crosses into the equation, with Blushing Groom (by Red God), Green Dancer (by Nijinsky) and Sir Gaylord on the dam side. This one should be able to run!

2012 Crop Revisited: Massabielle

It's that time of the year when the newcomers have all been registered with their racing names. To make the list at the foot of the page make sense, I'm putting up the profiles we did earlier once again with the name rather than a catalogue number, along with a newer picture.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Based at the Ogasa Stable at Miho TC, this colt is interesting, because the mother is Mejiro Lourdes, who gave birth to Lourdes No Hitomi - a horse that gave me a great deal of entertainment in the JRA arena and is now fighting it out in NAR racing. As such, there's not much point in going over the dam side again - it's simply enough to say that Mejiro Lourdes was sired by Sunday Silence, with strong Mejiro family lines in the female side of the equation.

The sire is Harbinger, a legend in racing circles that had his career cut short by an injury. Still, six wins from nine races, including victory in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, plus a second and a third, allowed him to stand as a stallion in Japan from 2011.

Harbinger has some truly beautiful bloodlines, with Danehill as one grandfather and Bering as the other. Danehill, successfully combining the blood of Tesio's greatest, goes down in history as being one of the most successful sires of all-time, while Bering won the Prix du Jockey Club and came second in the L'Arc de Triomphe during his career. His mother is the French-registered Penang Pearl, who picked up a useful 3-5-1 record on the track before becoming a broodmare.

Name Game

More Carrot Club reports starting to filter through - the usual sad mix of nothing worth passing on beyond treadmill and canter work, although there was one (the one for Belle Plage) that noted more work was needed on getting its body in shape (still!); True Motion apparently becomes tired if she does too much (see the last blog entry!), and Glint Moment is slowly but surely taking root in Hokkaido. I think we're being stringed along on this one to avoid a refund. It will never race as far as I'm concerned, and if it does beat the time limit, it will certainly not have been trained...

At least the newcomers have names now, so I'll bring up their profiles again over the next few days with their official racing names on them. The 'Avonbridge Filly' is also being named in England as we speak, with everyone's suggestions now being voted on by the syndicate members. I will put her profile up again, too, as soon as a final name has been decided on and registered.

Question

Today's question: How can a 17-year old racehorse, on regular feed - albeit high-quality - have more energy than a three-year old one? It's a question that bugs me, and gets raised once again with Mephisto Waltz on light canter work. Geez! The thing jogged around a track over two weeks ago, is young, injury-free, supposedly muscle-bound and on racing feed, and the Northern Farm people are still in the midst of considering something a bit more strenuous than a light canter. The reason I'm asking, is 'Jaguar' did light canter work for almost an hour that I know of (as I was there watching the kids doing it), on Thursday and Friday, and trotting here, there and everywhere on Saturday, with a roll around in the paddock to follow. Then on Sunday, he went for a 15-minute walk in the countryside (road work), a 15-minute warm-up at various speeds, including fast canter, and then half-an-hour of real hard work jumping - the sweat was pouring off every inch of him, yet his eyes were still burning bright and his ears were pricked ready for another go. After a ten-minute easy walk, he had a nice warm shower and a rub down. On the next day, full of zest and the joys of spring, with no signs whatsoever of fatigue, either mental or in any of his joints, he was in action again. It makes you wonder what he'd be like on race feed!

Don't get me wrong, there are times when R&R is a good thing - Raining Dollars was away for a while as a reward for his hard work, and that's fair enough, as he's a very young horse that had a really hard session followed by a lot of new experiences all in quick succession. He'll now be ready for the next stage in his career. But to just keep sending horses away that haven't done anything is madness. It takes time for them to readjust to a training regime, and time is something Carrot Club horses do not have - if they haven't won by the end of summer, they're gone. Of course, the trainers don't care, because another horse will come anyway (it's Japan - the land of opportunity if you have right school tie) and the clubs don't care, because they'll be more than happy to sell you a replacement from the next catalogue. But it's a sad reflection of the lack of pride and a sad reflection of the way horses are used simply to keep money turning over - there's certainly no interest in developing superior bloodlines, unless they can make yet more money, and no interest in giving horses a fighting chance to excel. Why rock the boat when you have a cushy number, right? In reality, the chances of Mephisto Waltz winning a race are about the same as me winning the Nobel Peace Prize, but there are Carrot Club horses I have a stake in that would benefit a great deal from some proper training - I mean real training, preparing them to race against other horses, not just a clock. The majority of them are so poorly prepared, if they were gladiators, they'd all be dead within seconds of entering the arena...

NAR Update

Agua De Vida is apparently coming along nicely, with more bits being tried in time for the next Kawasaki meeting (in the first week of March). The Shadai TC horse, Phosphorus, is also set to run at Kawasaki, which should be interesting. More details, including the jockey line-up, to follow soon...

PS. Looks like Agua will be running on the 4th.

Never Ceases To Amaze #2

Another thing that never ceases to amaze me is the extraordinary level of thinking the JRA trainers have. We've had the classic case of "here's a horse that absolutely hates dirt, so let's try her on dirt again." We've had numerous cases of blaming race-rust, then promptly sending the horse on another lengthy R&R session - the list of comical errors of judgement goes on and on beyond belief to be perfectly frank. Well, the latest is a plan to send Sophisticate off for an R&R session to reduce his tension. Would it not be better to get him used to being around other horses, and have him walking in and out of starting gates every day? He will come back, nicely relaxed, and at the first sign of a track, freak out again. I've come to the conclusion that the majority of JRA trainers are not trainers at all, they are simply business administrators with amazing facilities that they waste. The odd horse runs well at the start, but when the natural talent era ends, they haven't got a clue what to do. Working with horses, and more importantly, understanding them, is not a quantifiable thing - a piece of paper does not make someone qualified to hold a post when you are dealing with creatures that live and breathe. The same old textbook does not work with horses. You need feel, and that is something real trainers are born with, not something that can be learnt in a classroom...

Never Ceases To Amaze

Now here's a much brighter story. Mayano Time (aka 'Jaguar'), my crazy Thoroughbred that won four races in his younger days but used to kick, bite and throw everyone in sight once his racing career ended, was enjoying himself today jumping at an 80cm level - on pure instinct, too, as he's never been formally trained in this discipline. With care, attention and respect, this onry old horse (born in 1997) has become a lovable character that only gets snappy when he's sleepy and falls into default mode, and has won dressage, gymkhana and show-jumping events with both Louis and Sophie, which was unthinkable a few years ago. The way he was going today, clearing fences with ease and zest, it might be worth concentrating on jumping - a happy horse with confidence in those around him can do amazing things. If the JRA trainers want lessons on how to deal with horses properly, my rates are reasonable.

Not Funny

I'm sure there are quite a few people who've been waiting to read this in view of what happened at Tokyo-Fuchu today. I've deliberately held back my comments until my blood has stopped boiling, and I will leave you to imagine what I would have written a few hours earlier. It wouldn't have been pretty! These words are straight, but filled with a greater level of disappointment and a lot less anger...

First of all, we have Sophisticate - a horse that came a promising fourth in his first outing, and then for some reason fell to pieces. Today, there was some trouble in the gate, but that doesn't explain the poor performance after that. A gap appeared, it didn't respond. A disgusting 14th place to show for my support and investment, which is the horse's worst result so far, and its worst losing margin. I didn't think it could get any worse than the times logged in December - obviously I was wrong.

For those of you thinking I'm pissed off because the horse didn't win, I will point out the fact that Miracle Rouge didn't win last week, but I was still pleased. Why? Because there was some effort shown by both horse and jockey. That's all I ask for, and I don't honestly think that's asking for too much. All too often, the Carrot Club horses just turn up, fill the gate, and crawl around at training pace, taking in views of the nature on the way round, while the real racehorses are off in the distance - they don't even seem to try!

Anyone still left wondering why I'm sick to death of Carrot Club only needs to look at the seventh race. Yes, Tenshinramman, the horse that had pages written about her in the newspapers and glowing reports in JRA race previews is now relegated to the dregs of 4YO racing. Even outside the main event, she could still only muster fifth favourite status, and although it wasn't quite her worst ever performance, it was bloody close. Tanaka, blaming the horse, is saying she was too nervous today, but a good jockey can calm a horse down - it's called horsemanship. Even the final run-in time was off the pace, with her 34.2 for the last three furlongs (downhill) being 11th best - a full second adrift of the winner. The very best 3F time posted in the race was 0.1 seconds off that 'Tenny' put up in her first race as a two-year old. On paper, the winner shouldn't have even got close to her, yet somehow finished the best part of seven lengths ahead of her.

The trainer may feel obliged to Tanaka for giving him his first Grade race win (of only two to date), and Tanaka was all over the horse when it was doing well. However, it was his fault it didn't qualify for The Oaks, and today's report as good as reads "not my problem, mate." They are not the words of someone apparently losing sleep worrying about how to make this horse win, and as he obviously can't handle 'Tenny', I would give the ride to someone like Tosaki-san who can read a horse's temperament. The problem is, of course, now that she's had a good record totally ruined, who is going to want to ride her? You may as well retire her now while there are still a few of us that can remember what her raw talent made her capable of - before her so-called 'training' programme made her a nervous wreck that has forgotten how to run fast just for the thrill of it. I tell you one thing for sure - give me 'Tenny', and I guarantee I'd have her winning again by the time summer came around.