Danielle's Journey

Courtesy Realta HRC

Danielle's Journey is an exciting little filly born in 2010, and fielded by a brand new syndicate - the Realta Horse Racing Club in Ireland, which is focusing on National Hunt racing. This guarantees me having secured the jumper I've been after for a long time, especially having the highly-experienced Stuart Crawford at Newlands Farm as the trainer.

Danielle's Journey was sired by Presenting, who has a reputation for producing excellent National Hunt offspring, including Denman and War Of Attrition. Presenting was a handy racer himself, winning six flat races, and boasting Mtoto as his sire - a Donatello (by Blenheim) cross that won the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Coral Eclipse Stakes. Presenting's damsire, Persian Bold, picked up a 6-3-1 record from 16 starts, and brings a good mix of classic English blood into the equation.

Harringay, the Henrietta Knight-trained 

dam, was a good racer in her day, and comes with strong National Hunt bloodlines. Her sire was Sir Harry Lewis, winner of the Irish Derby, who continued the DNA of Alleged. As we can see, the blood is right, the enthusiastic team is right. Now all we can do is wait and see how she does on the track...

Nothing Tomorrow After All

River Spirit has been pulled from Musselburgh tomorrow, and declared for a race at Kempton on the 2nd October instead - a Class 6 Nursery Handicaps Stakes Race over six furlongs, which should be fun. With any luck, Raining Dollars should be making his debut in Australia at a similar time, give or take a bit, and that's something I've been looking forward to for a while now. Fingers crossed for the JLH team!

A few weeks later, the annual 'Ganbatte Kochi' race will be held, taking place on the 18th. I really do love the spirit at Kochi racetrack, and as long as I'm alive, I'll keep sponsoring a race to show my support for the super folks that keep it ticking over against the odds, through guts and sheer enthusiasm. I'll give you more details as I get them...

Had Better Days...

True Motion started fifth favourite, but ultimately finished ninth, about ten lengths down on the winner. That should signal the end of her time with me. At least I had a good morning doing some jumping practice with 'Bugatti' that took the edge off any disappointment, although it's not really surprising to be honest.

Meanwhile, Belle Plage had been firm favourite in her race since the day before, but today, the race scenario just didn't click - outside gate, long way around combined with a forced pace. You name it, it was against her. But as her first Black Type race, we can all be proud of her performance. The future is definitely bright for this horse, and we've got at least another year in which to prove that...

Courtesy Carrot Club

In the background, War Chronicle (right) passed her gate test, and - at last, after a rather annoying false start last year - I've managed to secure the hurdler I've been after her ages. Running in Ireland, I'll do a profile on her and the other newcomers over the next few days.

PS. True Motion has indeed been retired. If we can get rid of 
a few more that aren't doing any good - like Joyful Step and Glint Moment, along with Harmony Fair from the older horses - plus an end of contract here and there, we'll start to have the numbers at the bottom of the page coming down to manageable levels before the newcomers are added.

Saturday Sluggers

Glint Moment has been held back until the 4th for a 1400m dirt race at Hanshin, while Joyful Step is pussyfooting around. At least True Motion is definitely in the 4R at Niigata on Saturday (an 1800m dirt race) with Daichi Shibata in the saddle, and Belle Plage has been confirmed for the Kashiwazaki Tokubetsu Race at the same meeting. Here's hoping Masaki Katsuura has a winning ride! 

PDQ

Pretty Gully should probably be renamed as 'Pretty Damned Quick', as she came a superb second at Townsville today, despite running in an Open Class race for the first time. Looking at the distances she beat those behind her by, she's certainly not fighting above her weight, and that final run-in on the straight was nothing short of magnificent. One thing is for sure, Jo Hassett has found the magic formula with the girl, and this could be a very exciting season.

Having a good horse running is one thing, but I really like the Aussie racing scene. Everyone is so open and friendly, with folks knowing I live a fair distance from the Antipodes going out of their way to let me know what's happened. I really do appreciate being welcomed as a part of the JLH team. With another book finished - at last! - that's two pieces of good news today, which certainly goes a long way towards making up for not being able to see 'Bugatti' because of the bad weather. Time for a beer, I think...

Working Overtime

I've been working around the clock to try and get a new book finished on time, so I've not had a chance to do much on here - sorry about that! Anyway, Pretty Gully is in action in Australia tomorrow. She runs in a 1200m Open race with Sonja Wiseman in the saddle - it will be a tough one, but you never know, as she has a super team in her corner...

We've got a busy day on the 27th in Japan, with Joyful Step and True Motion in the same 1800m dirt race (the 4R) at the JRA Niigata meeting, and Belle Plage booked for the 9R - the Kashiwazaki Tokubetsu Race - later in the day. We should also have Glint Moment in the 1200m dirt race at Hanshin, so four horses running on Saturday with any luck. It will probably be the last time three of them run in Carrot Club colours, too, as they have to win to survive. At the other end of the scale, the Belle Plage and Katsuura-san pairing will be aiming for their third win a row.

Then on the 28th, 6000 miles away, River Spirit - a delightful little thing - should be running at Musselburgh in the 2:30, which is the Class 4 Royal Scots Club Nursery Handicap over five furlongs. Good luck to everyone!

Flat Pop

Poor ol' Pop Label waited ten months for his comeback, and then blew it in the starting gate. He looked superb in the paddock, and even better warming up - he even went into the stalls nicely and sat for a bit, then suddenly race-rust put him into hyper-tension mode, just as the starter opened the gate. This caused him to drop down hard on his front legs, almost stumbling, and he simply wasn't able to recover. In the end, he came home in a rather disappointing seventh, in the middle of the field, despite having started as firm favourite. Assuming he didn't hurt himself in the launch from the gate (always a worry), he'll definitely be back in the winner's circle soon, as you can see he's in a different class...

PS. Mikamoto-san's post-race report basically confirmed what we saw, except he made an interesting comment on Pop's condition. Basically, he was breathing heavily after not racing for so long, still being a touch heavy, and going with the high pace. As such, Mikamoto-san saved his legs rather than push things, knowing there's still plenty of time left to get him right and fight another day. He's got a great team behind him, and with that extra bit of knowledge, my confidence is running high.

Lots Happening

Single Cask came a gallant third today, missing out on second place by a nose. Harada-kun, the jockey, is saying how sorry he is for not doing better, but given the odds on the winner, and the long odds on Single Cask, I think he did an excellent job!

Belle Plage's race for the 27th is heavily oversubscribed, with 37 horses booked for 15 berths in the gate. We'll have to wait and see what happens on that one. Also, River Spirit won't be running on Tuesday now, but will have another race lined up soon. At least we have Pop Label to cheer on at Funabashi tomorrow - I'm really looking forward to it...

Louis and 'Bugatti' moved up a couple of classes today and came third in the junior A2 Dressage event. The odd thing is, there are so many handicaps and allowances in this category. I think the fact that he would have won the adult class by a country mile with his pure score (57.499 before handicaps) tells you enough - it was another superb performance. We'd tried the junior class once before, but will stick to adult classes from now on. The plan is to skip A3 and go straight to L1 next time, which is another big challenge.

In the meantime, Sophie (left) came fourth with 'Bugatti' in the Test category - despite her poor score, today was a good foundation to build on, as she's been more than a little dubious with the big fella recently. I guess she's reached that age where everything is up in the air, and confusion reigns. Given the current situation, she did well enough, and if she can get back to the way she was with 'Jaguar' towards the end, she'll make a tough competitor teaming up with 'Bugatti' in the future.