RIP Ukon

Some sad news from Tokoro stables this morning, with the passing away of Machikane Ukon - a full brother of Hishi Amazon, and a lovely character that excelled on the show-jumping circuit. Louis rode him a few times in practice, and Haruta-kun (his owner) was looking forward to a friendly dressage challenge match against Louis on 'Jaguar' - Ukon picked up a swollen ankle the day before they faced off against each other and, quite rightfully, the entry was withdrawn. We all figured there would be plenty of time to throw down the gauntlet again and have some fun together, as he wasn't particularly old, having been born in 1999 and always ready to roll. At least he enjoyed some time with his family yesterday, and went quickly and peacefully. RIP Ukon.

Mad Thing

The kids had a dressage clinic in the week, and Louis has another one on Monday for jumping. Partly for that, but mainly to give 'Jaguar' a break from regular training, we - both horse and humans - had some fun doing a bit of jumping this morning. If he wasn't knocking on a bit, I'd be tempted to see how far we could mount a show-jumping challenge with the big fella (he is big, by the way, it's just that Louis is huge for his age), because he obviously enjoys clearing fences a great deal. He does everything with such ease and gusto, it does make you wonder what he'd be capable of if he actually received some training in this discipline - as it is, this is just pure instinct, and probably a touch of showmanship (he fancies the little filly a couple of stalls away). Well, at least it's something he can relax doing, as there's no pressure to perform, and he knows he always gets a ton of fuss and cookies afterwards.

Horseman's Treasures

I've surrounded myself with all manner of horseman's treasures over the years. Very few of them are expensive, but they are treasures to me nonetheless - things that have a special significance, either because of who won it, who signed it, who made it, who it represents... The list goes on. Today's treasure sort of fits into two of those categories, but deserves its own, with the significance placed on who it's about. It's no secret that I have a deep admiration for Masayuki Kawashima - a little man who for me walks as tall as they come. A living legend, no less. Well, today, a book charting his rise from jockey to top trainer has found its way into my collection, and even though I can't read the words (Louis will sum things up for me later), I'm already getting a great deal of enjoyment from the photos, seeing folks I know now in their younger days. There's even a small link with England, with a picture of MK with Steve Cauthen - the American jockey who made a name for himself racing in Britain after winning the US Triple Crown. Another treasure...

PS. Louis and the missus have been reading through this, relaying stories here and there, and my respect just grows and grows. The helping hand given by Saburo Kitajima is heartwarming, too. Inspiring stuff!

Harping On

Irish Harp looks like the only Carrot Club horse that's going to race any time soon. She's hopefully going to run in the 1400m dirt race at Hanshin on the 6th April, but that naturally has to be confirmed, along with the jockey...

Going through the others makes sad reading at the end of the day. There are thoughts of racing Harmony Fair soon, but no plans. Belle Plage is being lined up for Nakayama or Fukushima, but with the trainer saying Fukushima is more likely, that takes us to the middle of April - maybe. Joyful Step needs more training according to those looking after her, but apparently she's as good as she's going to get, which basically means even if she does eventually race (and let's face it, she hasn't even been clocked since November), it will be another Dinner Bell scenario. Glint Moment should be moving down from Hokkaido next week, but there's another stop before Ritto TC, which means if he ever does make the track, it will be a debut in the summer heat. Excellent! He should have been retired as soon as he was injured rather than become a farce. As for Single Cask, her legs tire quickly, which makes proper training almost impossible - a move to turf is wanted, but JRA doesn't hold enough meetings to make that a reality.

The distinct lack of JRA meetings has affected Divine Daughter's challenge, too - this Sunday TC horse is ready to roll, but can't get a berth in a suitable race. The word 'joke' springs immediately to mind, and can also be applied to the priority system. Of the other Sunday TC runners (both NAR competitors), Pop Label is getting back into shape and should be ready to be shipped to Funabashi soon, while Beat The Boarder is still in pain, so on a go-slow.

Some quick updates from abroad while we're at it: Raining Dollars is doing well, but the recent rains have slowed training schedules down a bit. With so many areas of Australia needing rain, though, we shall put the needs of the nation first and say a hearty "no worries." And having just seen a video of Porthos in his first jump schooling session, let's just say he's certainly not afraid of fences! This horse, like Raining Dollars, has prospects.

Love Is... Part Nine

We haven't had anything in this series for a long time, but this picture I took this morning is a perfect candidate - Sophie and Phosphorus showing a level of understanding that just makes one's heart fill with warmth. It made memories of getting up while it was still dark and only three degrees C (as well as having to fight through two major traffic jams) fade away into insignificance...

And when I got back home, a big white envelope was waiting for me with pictures of Phosphorus' victory the from other day. Great stuff! Good job I finished the latest project last night, as I definitely need more wallspace - these are going up on the wall, along with another shot I took this morning that means the world to me. If you want to see it, you'll have to come to my office. Hehehe.

A Lot Of Nothing

Eight Carrot Club reports just come in on the JRA horses, but nothing worthwhile to pass on in reality - 'treadmill' is the favourite word, as usual, followed closely by 'canter'. Put another way, everything is ticking over at a snail's pace, when really, this is the last chance to do something before the mean summer heat kicks in and makes it difficult for the horses to perform well, even if they're in good condition. Most of them aren't, which only makes the chances of failure greater still. And as soon as summer fades into autumn, if they haven't won during the year, that's it. Curtains. Or sayonara - whichever you want.

Tenshinramman looks increasingly like she'll be invalided out; Mistoffelees and Harmony Fair have a clean bill of health now, but no battle plan, and Miracle Rouge's trainer is aiming for another race in the spring. Whether or not 'MR' does run, of course, is a different matter, and getting the right race for her is another matter entirely, as we've seen. Meanwhile, Mephisto Waltz seems to have had his training programme stepped up, but ultimately far too late in the day to make enough progress to transform him into a real racehorse...

Agua Update

Courtesy Carrot Club

Just heard that Agua De Vida is still in pain with a bad muscle strain on her right shoulder. She'll be having acupuncture treatment, and with a bit of rest and an equal amount of luck, she'll be able to start training again soon. Although I'm far from happy with Carrot Club (as you've probably guessed if you've been reading the blog), this is an NAR horse, not a JRA one. That makes a difference - she's my only link with Kawasaki, and I have a lot of time for the Yamazaki family.

This picture shows Agua-chan in her last race a couple of weeks ago, when Mikamoto-san guided her to second place. I hope to see them working together again soon...

A Bit Of History

Sophie graduated from fifth grade today, and because of the early finish to the school day, naturally headed off to the stables. Nothing surprising about that. But wearing her Funabashi Jockeys jacket, she made history during the final bit of the day, as she was seen pulling 'Jaguar' with Miho in the saddle. Now this is interesting, as the last time the missus got up on the big fella, she was like a quivering blancmange. Yet today, she even took the controls by herself and successfully brought him to a nice stop - no panic, and even a real smile rather than a forced one! So now, the whole family can officially ride, and while I think it will be a quite some time before she enters competitions, a huge step has been taken in the right direction...

Overdue

A photo of Sophie competing at Tomisato earlier in the month is long overdue, so to set things right, here's a beauty of her with 'Jaguar' in the dressage event. Thank you, Kuri, for sending the pictures along - much appreciated! The nice thing for me is that both of the kids are becoming real horsemen, with good progress on the riding front, and an equal amount of effort being put in to caring for the animals. I was wondering where Sophie had got to in the afternoon - having trained there this morning, she'd actually returned to Tokoro to help with the mucking out. It's no wonder she can beat her mother at arm wrestling. In fact, she can beat most of the moms at her school!

Five Minutes

Please forgive me for being a bit quiet on the blog recently - I'm struggling to meet a deadline for the latest book. Thankfully, by sticking at it, progress has been made in the last few weeks, and having reached a suitable finishing point about half-an-hour ago (as in completing the last but one chapter), I'm having the rest of the day off so that I can be fresh again on the home straight tomorrow. With 90% of the research done, I should just about make it...

Courtesy Francesca Morrison

Nothing much to report anyway, as it happens, although Ilka kindly sent me a beautiful picture of Godiva's Pride overnight (the one seen here), which I will almost certainly get blown up and framed, like the one of Phosphorus a friend kindly sent along after his win on Wednesday. As soon as this current project is over, I'm moving the office to another room, and although it's a touch smaller, it has a lot more wallspace. Good job really!