Red Pen

Miracle Rouge let me down again today - the third really bad result in a row, despite being sixth favourite in a field of 13. She wasn't happy in the paddock, and had a downright awful race to finish tenth. The trainer is saying she should have a break and then he'll consider which way to go next. If it was up to me, today would be her last race, as she's only wasting time and money within the present scenario. A different team might get more out of her, but as things stand, retirement is the only answer as far as I'm concerned...

Harpooned

Porthos Du Vallon was fourth at Musselburgh on Friday, quite a long way off the pace in the closing stages unfortunately, despite starting as pre-race favourite. Well, as I said, we'll put this one down to experience...

With the time difference, the result from the UK came through this morning as far as I'm concerned. As such, from a Japanese point of view, Irish Harp raced on the same day! As many of you will know, this filly was my first pick from the Carrot Club 2011 crop, so I've always followed her progress with greater interest than the others. Ryoya Kozaki was in the saddle again, as per Irish Harp's last outing, but he blew it this time and they struggled from the off. Whether she was marked, being the favourite, I don't know. What I do know is that ninth is incredibly disappointing. She's been given more chances than any other Carrot horse by a long way, and I can't honestly see her being given another after today, especially as she was so far off the pace of the winner. I shall be sad to see her go, for other than Single Cask, she's about the only Carrot horse of that year worth keeping - most have already fallen by the wayside, and Belle Plage seems to have lost the plot.

So, two favourites, and two dramatic failures so far this weekend. Looks like my run of victories has well and truly finished, unless Monsoon Trough can pull something out of the bag on Wednesday, for I very much doubt whether Miracle Rouge (ridden by Takuma Ito) will be able to do any good in tomorrow's 7R at Tokyo-Fuchu. With so much bad news and needless stress floating around the house at the moment, today's result is about as welcome as a bite from Luis Suarez!

Fresh Challenge

Courtesy Sunday TC

Just heard there are thoughts of entering Monsoon Trough in the Fresh Challenge Race at Monbetsu in a couple of weeks, probably on the 9th July. This is a picture of her taken earlier in the month. As you can see, she really is a big girl, tipping the scales at 465kg with a lot of growing to do yet. She has some really special bloodlines, too, so who knows, she may well get her career off to a flying start in Hokkaido before making her way to the Kanto area.

Time to see which yearling sales have been approved by the Shadai Group for this year soon. Keep tuning in, as there are a pair of exciting proposals on the table!

PS. I'll write things up properly once things have been confirmed, but it looks like the debut has now been moved forward to the 2nd for Monsoon Trough in a 1700m race. Also, Phosphorus will back in action at the next Funabashi meeting, which is something to look forward to...

A Miracle Cometh?

Miracle Rouge seems to be in good spirits for the 1800m turf race at Tokyo on the 29th, with Ito-san taking over the reins for this outing. He trained with her this morning, and has been studying video footage of her previous races, so I look forward to seeing the result. Irish Harp is out the day before at Hakodate, with revenge firmly in mind. We should be in for some good action in the UK over the weekend, too, even though River Spirit has been pulled under the Handicaps start in earnest.

At the other end of the scale, we have Dinner Bell, with the trainer aiming for the 1200m turf race at Fukushima on the 6th July. Lots of other 'treadmill' reports, but the one on True Motion was interesting, with the trainer thinking of continuing down the dirt route for her next outing. It seems her biggest problem is pre-race tension, but this is doubtless something that would resolve itself if she raced more! Oh, and Glint Moment has passed its gate test, just as those following from a year behind are passing theirs...

Beat The Border V1

With the awful weather, I was in two minds on whether to make the trek across to Tokyo's TCK track or not. It cleared up a bit in the afternoon, though, and with the early betting putting Beat The Border in with a chance, Louis and I caught the train and just made it in time to see her enter the parade ring. The pretty little filly had been out of action for quite a while, but you wouldn't have thought it the way she shot out the gates, allowing Shun Ishizaki to position her perfectly all the way through the 1400m run. The main threat fizzled out at the 2F to go mark, and a final chance of gear at the end secured a convincing victory. Well done, Shun-kun, for completing a masterly ride...

Breezy Storm, who belongs to a friend of mine, won in the next race. I'm looking forward to swapping pictures and winning tickets in the near future, but for the time being, there was plenty to celebrate on the way back home!