Time Zones

Poor Masterson didn't really deliver the goods yesterday (early this morning in my time zone), but in a debut outing, the main thing is to gain experience and come back safely ready for the next battle. In addition, he will have learnt some of the finer points of racing thanks to this race. Post-race inspections revealed no problems. We'll get there...

Meanwhile, later today in Japan, Kalliopeia is in a tough race, while Harmony Fair's retirement would be the best news we can expect looking at the combination of her recent results and her betting price. For anyone interested, Kalliopeia is lined up with Yutaka Yoshida in the 7F at Fukushima, while Harmony Fair teams up with Yoshitomi Shibata in the 9F at the same track; both races are over 2000m of turf.

PS. Both of the JRA horses did better than expected, although the results on paper are nothing to write home about. Kalliopeia's jockey was marking a nag that simply didn't go, so the pair got dropped early on. The seventh place came courtesy of a super finishing straight performance, indicating that this one still has a chance to improve. Harmony was ninth, but her run was blocked at a crucial point, just as she was starting to move nicely, and then she had to play catch-up for the second half of the race as a result. I think a decision is being made as soon as she gets back to the stables to see if she can run straight away in a last-ditch attempt at victory, or retire her if she needs a rest. Personally, I feel Harmony has had more than enough chances already, but today was damned unlucky rather than a failing in the horse. As such, I'm happy either way, although one more chance would be my limit.

Lillyput

Courtesy West Ilsley Stables

A bay filly in the Box 41 syndicate by Lilbourne Lad, out of Bellacoola. Lilbourne Lad was quite handy in his racing days, winning three of his eight outings, including the G3 Railway Stakes in Ireland; he also did well in G1 and G2 events. His father was Acclamation, but Royal Applause in the next generation back perhaps adds to sparkle that made Lilbourne Lad into a winner. The damsire was Green Desert, successfully combining the Danzig, Sir Ivor and War Admiral lines, with Blushing Groom (by Red God), Highclere, Northern Dancer and Ribot backing things up on the female side.

Bellacoola was sired by Lomitas, who also sired Danedream. Lomita's had a fabulous career in Germany and the States, carrying on the DNA of Niniski. We all know how much I love his father, Nijinsky, but Niniski was quite something in his own right, winning the Irish St Leger and Prix Royal Oak within his six victories. Lomitas' damsire was Surumu, who won the German Derby, so more good blood there. Bellacoola's dam was Bejaria, who won twice and has produced some fine offspring - with Konigsstuhl (a German Triple Crown winner) as her father, perhaps that shouldn't come as a surprise.

Masterson

Courtesy West Ilsley Stables

This one is a grey colt in Mick Channon's Box 41 syndicate. He is easy enough to profile, because he was also sired by Lawman, like Blacklister. As such, we don't need to cover that aspect of his blood again, but his dam is Indian Dumaani, who won four races in Italy and had a string of top finishes before becoming a broodmare...

Indian Dumaani is by Indian Ridge, who won a few Stakes races before being allowed to stand at the Irish National Stud. Her dam is Mubadalah - a US-registered horse from the Danzig line that has produced some good winners, much like her mother, Dish Dash, who carries Bustino (by Busted) DNA, as well as that of Fairway and War Relic further back. Dish Dash won at Royal Ascot, and can include three wins and G1 history amongst her ten outings.

Masterson will be making his debut this Saturday, so fingers crossed for him and the wonderful team that has got him this far.

Blacklister

Courtesy West Ilsley Stables

Seeing as he's already been out a couple of times, we'll take a look at Blacklister as the first of the three Box 41 horses in England. The Box 41 syndicate has a long and proud history at Mick Channon's prestigious West Ilsley Stables, by the way, and I'm chuffed to bits to be a small part of it. Hopefully I will be for many years - at least until the money runs out, or the Grim Reaper decides my time has run out, whichever comes first!

Anyway, Blacklister was sired by Lawman - a French-registered stallion who won the coveted Prix du Jockey Club race in amongst his four wins (4-1-0 from seven races). His father was Invincible Spirit, who seems to have an uncanny knack of passing on Danzig's golden DNA, as well as that of Sir Ivor, Kris and Round Table (by Princequillo). All in all, some legendary bloodlines, with 'classic' winners aplenty, and the likes of Gulch (by Mr Prospector), Shirley Heights (by Mill Reef) and Nijinsky being added by his mother, Laramie, to further strengthen the gene pool...

On the dam side, Blacklister's mother is Lebenstanz, who picked up a 1-4-0 record before becoming a broodmare. Her sire was Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Singspiel, who was a worthy representative of Sadler's Wells blood, and added Shirley Heights in there for good measure. Her dam was Reamur, who has a habit of creating good runners, largely thanks to Ribot and High Top DNA, I guess, with Fairway and Hyperion a bit further back. 

Blacklister has been unlucky so far, but he shows a great deal of promise, and now he's been gelded, I'm positive he'll put in some good results over the new few months. 

Another Landmark

The number of visitors to the blog shot past the 60,000 mark this morning - the recent increase in traffic probably due to the awful weather in Japan as much as the news items... I know it's the rainy season, but I can't remember it being this wet day after day, week after week, in the past. No danger of a hosepipe ban, that's for sure!

Shame we couldn't celebrate the landmark (and the 1000th post) with a win. Of course, the constant rain was against us for Beat The Boarder, who really needs a dry track. She showed a lot of heart until the fourth corner at least, and that was nice to see. She seemed to lose concentration completely once she hit the straight, but the result was already academic. Trovao started as a strong favourite in his debut outing (well, second favourite, with little difference in the prices), but blew the start and could only manage second. Ultimately, though, he showed some real pace at the end - a completely different level to his competitors, in fact - that fully justified his position as being well-fancied, beating the favourite by almost nine lengths in the process. A longer distance, and he'll be one to watch out for without a doubt. His next race should be a cracker. Beyond that, we have to think where he'll go after his Hokkaido career ends. I've got my fingers crossed that he'll make his way to Funabashi.

Harmony Fair and Kalliopeia have been confirmed for the weekend in Japan, and Masterson should be making his debut in England, too, with Sam Hitchcott lined up to be in the saddle. Something to look forward to anyway.

Ettie Hart

Courtesy West Ilsley Stables

Ettie Hart is the second Lord Ilsley Racing horse, also born in the Spring of 2013. This pretty filly is by Bushranger out of Miss Megs. Bushranger won a couple of G1 races, combining the blood of Danetime and Danz Danz, the latter carrying on the Danzig line via Green Desert, as well as a drop of War Admiral and Sir Ivor DNA. Her dam, Miss Megs, won twice as a three-year old, and has given birth to three winners from her six kids. Her sire was Croco Rouge, who won a couple of G1 races thanks to his Blushing Groom and Alleged bloodlines, with Princequillo providing the Irish link. On her dam side, we have Shirley Heights (Mill Reef) and High Top. 

Great blood! We'll see if it can be converted into winning speed and stamina in the very near future, as her training is going well of late. We'll do the three Box 41 horses another day...

Gandvik

Courtesy West Ilsley Stables

Got an awful lot of work done recently, but that has also meant that I've not been able to do a lot on the blog. It seems crazy that I haven't even put up profiles on the English racers for this year, even though they mean a great deal to me being stationed with the Channon family.

First, let's take a look at Gandvik in the Lord Ilsley Racing syndicate, who was born in the Spring of 2013. Gandvik is a colt sired by Baltic King. Baltic King had an incredibly long history on the track by UK standards, and won a few Stakes races along the way before being sent to the Tally-Ho Stud in Ireland. His father was Danetime by Danehill, the latter successfully combining the blood of Tesio's greatest to go down in history as one of the most successful sires of all-time, while his female line has Roberto (Hail To Reason) and Northern Dancer DNA running through its veins. Hail To Reason and Northern Dancer pop up again on Baltic King's dam side via Lindfield Belle. 

The colt's dam was Regal Lustre, who carries yet more Roberto and Northern Dancer blood, which is fine by me - I love Roberto! Her sire, Averti, picked up a 5-2-6 record from 41 starts, and had Warning as his father, who had a fabulous record, including a win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Her dam was Noble Lustre, a Kentucky mare that has given birth to numerous successful racers. 

He didn't have the best of starts to his career when he first hit the track, but having been gelded, he will certainly improve over the next few months...

More Ups & Downs

Bad news from the Phosphorus camp - he's chipped a bone in his knee, and will be out of action for six months. Let's hope he's back in top form soon after, but it may help explain his lack of enthusiasm recently. Too early to say at this stage, but he might be my second riding horse (a jumper to compliment Bugatti's dressage skills) sooner than we thought...

Beat The Boarder races in the 4R at TCK tomorrow, and Pop Label will hopefully get a race there at the end of the month. Meanwhile, Trovao is also out tomorrow, and Million Ways is aiming for the 1600m 'Super Fresh Challenge' at Monbetsu on the 16th. On the JRA front, hopefully Harmony Fair and Kalliopeia should run at Fukushima on the 12th.

Stay Safe

There was a huge accident at TCK yesterday, but it looks like most of the riders and horses escaped from what could have been a disaster. One horse had to be put down, and one of the lads was sent to hospital but seems to be okay. It reminds you how dangerous a sport horse racing is, and at NAR level, there's very little financial reward for facing that danger. Makes me mad when you see the crazy and totally unrealistic wages of baseball players and golfers. Stay safe, folks!

On a lighter note, Pop Label runs tonight, and Masterson makes his debut at Salisbury in England on the 11th. He is lined up to run in the 7f Bathwick Tyres British Stallions EBF Maiden Stakes (Class 4) at 6:00, but has yet to be confirmed as a runner as yet. If nothing else, the declaration means he'll be running very soon.

PS. May as well add in Pop's result as a PS, as there's not much one can say. For starters, he hates a wet track, and today Oi (TCK) looked like a lake. Having gone like mad to make up for the outside gate start, which seems to be assigned to me constantly, he was blocked on the run-in, and the jockey simply didn't go for a gap that did eventually appear. I'm not sure if there was much left in the tank anyway, but someone like Kota Motohashi would have definitely gone for it. Really, really disappointed...

Urawa Red

I have just tried to support Urawa by sponsoring a race, but was told - very abruptly, I might add - that they don't hold them there. It's a shame, because Urawa is somewhere I would like to help, as it always seems to be the poor relation in the Nankan world, yet despite the rather curt staff reaction to a simple question, there are some super people there.

Oh well, at least we have Pop Label to look forward to tomorrow, running in the 10R at TCK. As usual, we've drawn the outside gate, but it will be interesting to see what Kanazawa jockey Koji Fujita can do with him. Hopefully the relentless rain will stop soon!