Kalliopeia made a useless start, looked promising for ten seconds, then mysteriously dropped back only to jog in at the finish to cross the line in a distant tenth, a full 1.3 seconds down on the winner. Given that the horse still wasn't prepared after two months away from the track, do JRA trainers really have the balls to call this serious racing? With me not being in the best of moods in the first place, yet another JRA calamity is hardly a perfect recipe to blow the blues away. Whether tomorrow's pair can do any better is yet to be seen...
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| Courtesy Jenny Felix |
At least the Aussies know how to put on a show, and Raining Dollars (pictured) has come good (a lack of maturity was his only real vice after all) to give us a handy third place. This is actually a very pleasing result for the JLH team, as the short distance would not have suited him all that well. Pretty Gully is back on track, too, coming second in her race - she'll be back in the winner's circle in no time.
Meanwhile, the auctions at Funabashi were wild, with record prices set one after another. Of course, someone will be happy that prices are escalating out of control, but it isn't healthy for the long-term future of the sport, especially NAR owners and supporters. Hardly any of the horses sold will ever come anywhere near to recouping their investment, even before monthly bills are added on top, and that's assuming returns are based on JRA winnings - very few of the NAR folks put their hands up once, as there is no hope of ever getting even a fraction of the money back. Huge prices do not guarantee a good runner, only a higher risk - a risk that few smaller outfits and individual owners will be willing to take, regardless of their JRA or NAR affiliation. I see no reason to celebrate the big prices whatsoever.
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