Wobbly Wesults

Well, this has to be my worst day of race results ever. Finishing last, J'ai Un Reve ran like a donkey - totally unprepared for the track, and even the jockey said so, which is unusual, as they usually try and safeguard their position (even more so amongst the lesser ranks, and this guy is hardly a headline name in the JRA trade). I have to raise the question: If stamina is a problem, why enter a 2200m race? Two things are for sure - never again will I buy into an expensive horse in Japan, and never again will I have anything to do with Ikee Stables, as my experience with them so far has been incredibly disappointing.

Irish Harp then screwed up her race, although control issues seemed to be at the heart of the problem. Watching the race, I wondered what on Earth the jockey was playing at, as there was no way to move forward in the positions I saw on screen. It appears the horse was constantly pulling to the side, which is what caused the poor positioning, and ultimately the poor finish. That aside, the speed wasn't so bad, so perhaps a quick return to the track might just give us a decent result on the flipside.

Then, just to finish off a perfect day (which is exactly what you need when your mind is at rock-bottom anyway!), even Pretty Gully and Sonja Wiseman failed to perform in Australia. I have a feeling I know what the problem is, although I've not had a post-race report as yet. Unlike those behind J'ai Un Reve, though, I have confidence in the JLH team, and I know Pretty Gully will be back in the winner's circle.

By the way, all the English horses - run by professionals driven by passion, I might add - now have names, so we can start doing the profiles over the coming few days...

PS. Everyone seems very pleased with Pretty Gully's finish, so, as I said, there's no real need to worry on that one. The problem, as always, lies with the JRA horses - I have very little faith in the ability of Ikee Stables to turn things around, while Irish Harp seems to be past her best. As yet, there are no trainer reports on either JRA nag - I guess the Ikee outfit will have to dig deep to find an excuse for a performance that ranks alongside that of my worst horse ever, but at least cost six times less money!

PPS. Irish Harp is being lined up for Hokkaido work, as happened last year. As for Ikee, the stable still couldn't be bothered to make a comment, confirming the obvious lack of interest in anything but the continued flow of money. At least Carrot Club's tone was far from impressed, instead of making a feeble excuse and saying everything is fine; a health check has been mentioned. Whatever, things need to improve big time as far as J'ai Un Reve is concerned.