Day Of Racing

Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest, but not much chance of that today, as I've passed one deadline on the new book and don't want to miss the revised one. Anyway, Sunday is a day of racing rather than rest in this house in any case, especially today, as we had three runners in Japan's JRA and two in Australia.

First out was Rush Attack at Hakodate. Miura Kosei was at the controls, and came out the gate nicely, despite an outside draw (surprise, surprise!). But the horse seemed to baulk at the sand in his face at the first corner, even though Kosei-kun didn't mention that in his report. He did imply that dirt didn't suit the nag, and that this was a wasted opportunity. After all, having the favourite at your disposal and not being able to shine is annoying for everyone involved - the trainer really should have figured out this scenario before thinking of dirt, or at least make the dirt challenge after getting one in the bag on turf, where Rush has already come fourth twice, third twice and second once! Today's seventh is incredibly disappointing. Now what?

Irish Harp was at the same track not long after with newcomer Shota Kato in the saddle. Not fancied at all due to three disasters from her last outings, seventh was a pretty good result on the face of it. At least there was a glimpse of the old Harp. A few thousand miles south, Raining Dollars was running at exactly the same time at Charters, teaming up with Graham Watson. Again, an outside gate didn't help our chances, and seventh of 12 was probably the best we could hope for on the day. Three races down, three seventh places. Not good...

Courtesy Carrot Club

Later in the afternoon, the dream pairing of Massabielle and Keita Tosaki (left) came together at Tokyo-Fuchu in the 2400m turf race. Starting as favourite, Tosaki-kun timed it to perfection, and won by a nice, safe two-and-a-half length margin, never looking in trouble as soon as the post came into sight. This is my 30th win, with Massabielle becoming my first horse to clock up three wins -  he now has a 3-1-0 record from four races, including two black-type victories. Chuffed to bits! Ogasa-san has done a super job, and has an eye on the future, too - rather than cash-in on current form, he's determined to let the horse grow and only enter races that perfectly match it. I like his style.

Then, in the final race at Charters, Graham Watson put on the JLH/Godiva silks once more to give Pretty Gully a run, and got thrown off after she threw a wobbly. She was duly scratched from the race, so a real day of ups and downs. Just hope everyone is OK.

PS. I've heard Graham is fine - a bit bruised up, but basically fine. Good news. Pretty Gully will be looked over by the vet tomorrow, so fingers crossed for her and Jo, her trainer, who I have a lot of respect for.