Painfully Close

We had a couple of decent results yesterday - a second place that was painfully close to victory, and a strong third. Phosphorus (pictured) started as favourite, but the second favourite was also very well-fancied, and the gate draw ultimately determined the outcome - the #1 held on to the inside, while Phos had to go the long way around thanks to yet another outside gate draw (I must be a record holder in this respect!) and lost by 0.1 seconds, or half-a-length. It was basically a match race, as the third-placed pony was six lengths down! At least we know he can compete in C1, despite his youth, as he beat an ex-JRA winner by ten lengths, and I'm also fairly sure having his regular jockey would have helped push him along that bit extra, knowing his character from day one and by taking up the pace. His record now stands at 4-3-1, and there's a lot to give as yet - as usual, he couldn't wait to tuck into his meal, which is hardly a sign of over-exertion...

If I sound a little disappointed with Hiroto Yoshihara with Phos (he is my favourite racehorse after all, and I hope to take him on after his racing career finishes as a stablemate for 'Bugatti'), well, there's no complaints with his race on Pop Label. His record moves to 3-0-2 thanks to a third place, which is the best position so far since coming to the Kanto area after a very long recovery from injury. In reality, he lost almost a year of his career, and he's improving nicely considering the level he's having to fight at due to the wins in his early career. A better start might have seen a better result, but he didn't fluff it to the extent he has been doing of late, so that's something. However, I reckon we really need a Tokyo run to show him in his best light. Unfortunately, the slots are always booked, and I guess we'd get the outside gate anyway! At least we're getting there.