Another Double Drat...

The last blog entry raised the question about whether we'd get to see a perfect Harmony? The answer came this morning, with her as out-of-tune as the average K-Pop singer. In fact, she was almost as bad as a J-Pop one, and that really is saying something! The veteran jockey is suggesting everything went well, and apparently the sand didn't bother her, so why she had such a bad result (ninth) is something we can only speculate about. In my opinion, unless the statement on the sand has been added to parry a bombardment of complaints given her previous dirt runs, she's simply not a racehorse. Period. At the end of the day, practice times mean nothing - it is the performance on the track that counts for a horse to be able to be called a racehorse, and there she falls down badly...

Courtesy Townsville Turf Club

There was a ninth also for Pretty Gully (pictured) in Australia, who simply wasn't in the mood according to
the jockey. As a result, she'll be shipped off for a well-deserved R&R session now, as she's had a hard schedule recently - and I mean hard, not like JRA's definition of the term. Poor Jo, Pretty Gully's trainer, certainly had a bad day at the office today, so I'm sure she'll be looking for some sweet revenge in the New Year. Me, too!

PS. While Pretty Gully has an excuse for her lacklustre run, the trainer's report on Harmony Fair gave us no firm conclusions. Yes, turf would be better. No kidding! But finding a race in the overly-limited JRA calendar is another thing. If something can't be found soon, it will be Spring before she runs again, and personally, that just seems like a waste of time and money keeping her on the off-chance of a fluke. Run her ASAP, while she still realizes what a race is all about, and if she fails again, she has to go.

Perfect Harmony?

Courtesy Carrot Club

After a hard day in front of the computer, including almost an hour searching for what a specific Mercedes switch looked like (at least I now know it's extremely rare!), the day was brightened up around teatime by the arrival of some new bridals and lead ropes for 'Bugatti' - he now has a bright yellow and a bright red set to go with his traditional Newmarket stuff.

A couple of JRA dates for the diary, with Hiroshi Kitamura taking on Harmony Fair (pictured here at the start of last month) for the Chukyo 2R (1800m dirt) on the 20th, and Massabielle hopefully making his debut on the 27th at Nakayama in the 2000m turf race with Katsuura-san in the saddle. Given Harmony's superb practice time and a pair of good hands at the reins, this could be our best chance to get a four-year old victory, which is ironic, given that I'd given up on her when she was at her old place. If she does win, it will be a real feather in the cap of the new trainer...

Aussie Power

Our next race sees Pretty Gully out on Saturday, which should prove interesting. Raining Dollars (aka Ted), her stablemate in Townsville, should be back in action again soon. As you can see from the picture, he certainly looks the part, and I look forward to seeing him run his third race in the near future.

Beat The Boarder is due to run at he next TCK meeting, while Pop Label will hopefully get a berth in the gate for the 1800m 7R there on the 28th.

Nothing positive to report on the Carrot/JRA front, with a lot of cut and paste activity, and nothing much else. Harmony Fair was supposed to be out on the 21st, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Little Spark

Kota Motohashi saddled up on Phosphorus at a sodden Kawasaki tonight, and of 14 horses, drew gate 14! He overcame that unfortunate draw with a great start and a super position until the third corner, and then Phos-kun seemed to object to the wet dirt as Kota went to the inside. Ultimately, the pair had a bad line at the end, getting penned in, and came home in fifth. At least there was a spark of the old Phosphorus, and I hope today's race will set him up nicely for the next Funabashi meeting...