Segesta

The search for 'Bugatti' - the replacement for 'Jaguar' - may well be over, as a new horse has arrived at Tokoro RC today that has definitely taken my fancy. Okay, he's not as dark as I'd really like, but he's a big lad (520kg in his racing days) and full of spirit.

He was known as Segesta during his racing career (three wins, two thirds), and was based with Sasaki-sensei at Funabashi, with Norihiko Nozawa taking the reins on each of his outings. I took this picture in December 2012, not realizing the significance it would have. It's also a crazy coincidence that today is Nozawa-san's birthday!

Anyway, he was a real wild child today, so we will give him a few days to settle in, and then Louis and Sophie can see what he's like as a riding horse. If all goes well, we'll have a new horse in the family, which I'll re-register as 'Bugatti' in due course...

Daft

Well, Glint Moment wasn't last, but carrying 56kg, he was far too close to the back of the field for comfort. As mentioned before, I think it was a daft idea to try and create a racehorse this late in the season. When I say season, I mean the Japanese club season, for within the next few weeks, anything that hasn't won will be cast to the side. Bearing in mind that Glint Moment had only just passed his gate test and showed no real signs of being a potentially good horse, the entry doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Owners have simply been treated as ATM machines, when a decision should have been taken months ago to retire him and give him a life outside the racing arena as soon as his injuries were sorted. I'm sure, like me, my fellow owners would have been far happier with an insurance pay-out than a performance like this. Next I guess we will have an R&R session, and the high tension will be just the same in one last race as the season closes. Pathetic in the extreme.

PS. Indeed, the horse is going for a refresher session! So we can expect another entry of questionable merit and laughable results, assuming the R&R session finishes before the Carrot Club season cut-off. The end of my Carrot Club and JRA era still seems a long, long way off, when I'd really like it to finish as soon as possible when you have to bear ridiculous situations like this one. 

Glint Of Hope?

Courtesy Carrot Club

Well, all of a sudden, Glint Moment (right) has a race - the 4R at Chukyo on Saturday the 12th, which is a mile over turf. I'm surprised, to be honest, as the horse has only just passed its gate test, yet it's up against some class ponies. For sure, none of them have won as yet, but quite a few have come damned close on several occasions. While I'd really like to be proven wrong, if he blows this big time, I don't mind saying I shall be very annoyed, as it's my feeling that his recovery from injury took too long to make him a viable racehorse in this season. I'm quite sure that he'll just make up the numbers, as his practice times verge on the same level as Brazil's performance against Germany, and if he shows no promise whatsoever, then what?

Harmony Fair has landed back at Miho TC and in the hands of her new trainer. It will be interesting to see what happens with her from now on. Meanwhile, Miracle Rouge has moved further away from the heat for a lengthy R&R session. If the fact she's not good in the heat was known before, why wasn't she moved up north earlier in readiness for the start of the Hakodate session instead of keeping her south? To be frank, with this horse, none of it makes sense right now!  

Back in Blighty, Porthos Du Vallon has started schooling as planned, and is said to be on track for his jumps debut in two weeks! Again, I'm confused, as his last two races have been dreadful, which doesn't bode well for the longer events he's expected to run in. We shall have to wait and see, I guess...

River Spirit has had her new handicap allotted, and she is down to run at Bath on the 15th July in the Class 5 DPS Nursery Handicap Stakes Open over five furlongs. I look forward to that. Also happy to report that Raining Dollars is back in training in Australia after his various mishaps. We should be able to have a lot of fun with this big fella.

Carrot Nibbles

A few Carrot Club reports have filtered through over the last couple of days. There's not that much to report in reality, although Tenshinramman is going back to Miho TC. The guy in charge of her during her Fukushima frolic said that she was difficult to control, but definitely had high ability, which is something we've known for a long time. Finding the right team to release that ability at the right moment is the thing that's lacking.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Irish Harp (pictured here at her last outing) is indeed being given a final chance, and is being lined up for a race in the final Hakodate meeting, which comes on the weekend of the 19th/20th of July. What a great sport Mr Sugai is...

Meanwhile, Belle Plage is booked for the 1200m turf race at Hakodate on the 19th, and Joyful Step the 1700m dirt race at Fukushima on the following day. Nothing is expected of the latter whatsoever, and hopefully she'll be retired if the result is a poor one. True Motion will probably be retired, too, as she has bad legs. At least Single Cask is still bombing away, and is hopefully going to run at Niigata soon if all goes to plan.

A Quick Update

Phosphorus is a little tired, and will miss the Funabashi meeting this month. There are plans to field him in the Kawasaki meeting in mid-August instead, but he's certainly deserved a rest anyway, as he's raced nine times since making his debut in January. Even mad things need a break occasionally...

And the dates pencilled in against River Spirit have been rubbed out for the time being. Her handicap is being adjusted, and so the decision has been made to wait a little for a race that provides her with a better advantage. She's still full of beans, so we can look forward to a good run in due course.

The Bell Tolls

Courtesy Carrot Club

The number of visitors to the blog trickled past the 45,000 mark yesterday evening, but nothing very exciting to report given such a major landmark. Indeed, Dinner Bell (pictured here) finished in 14th at Fukushima, which was even worse than expected - and expectations were low in the first place! She was an incredible 17 lengths off the pace, so one can only be thankful it was such a short race - just imagine the embarrassment had the 2R been run over a mile! As hoped for, she has been retired from racing as of today. One simply has to accept that not all Thoroughbreds are born racers.

Meanwhile, Miracle Rouge has gone to a different holiday location, with thoughts of running her again in the autumn. As I said before, though, I doubt whether horses that haven't won during the year will be allowed to continue beyond the end of summer. There is no clarification on the situation one way or the other, so I suppose all you can do is wait and see what happens in the coming months.

At least there's a flicker of brightness in the UK, as River Sprit is due to run again next Friday (the 11th), booked for either the Class 4 6:30 at Chepstow or the Class 3 2:55 at York. Both races are over five furlongs, and I really look forward to seeing the results in due course. Great little horse, and a great team behind her...

As I was sitting waiting at the stables the other day (the kids were just riding for fun rather than training, as the ground was awful after the heavy rain), I started jotting down names for the successors to Godiva's Pride. As anyone that knows me well will tell you, I'm not particularly good with making up names, but I thought these were okay: Godiva's Haven, Godiva's Prize, 
Godiva's Spirit, Godiva's Finest, Godiva's Calling, Godiva's Child, and Godiva's Secret. Now all we need are the racehorses to go with the names!