Ropy Day

I'm reminded of a classic post-race report from Lord Ilsley, which consisted of a single eight-letter word starting with 'b' and ending with 'ocks'. After all the excitement at TCK yesterday, Raining Dollars was a bit disappointing with Kat Aho in Australia today, as the pair finished fourth in a race that should really have been possible to win - an unusually bad start sealed their fate in such a short sprint, and blew our chances of putting a few quid in the pot along the way. More disappointment with Irish Harp, too - a major disappointment this time that, which, being totally frank, should signal retirement if that's the best she can do. It certainly wasn't the jockey's fault from what I saw. We've had our money's worth with 20 races out of her anyway...

PS. Make that ropy weekend, for even though little was expected of Kalliopeia, the result was still a joke. The jockey says she has race sense, her form is fine, and she's not afraid of dirt being kicked up in her face - good job really, as being at the back, you tend to get a lot of sand flying your way. The jockey is suggesting one more chance on dirt, but I didn't see any future in this horse, even in a donkey derby. Personally I wouldn't bother, unless you can get her tension down by getting her back out on the track quickly - and not much chance of that given JRA's love of unwarranted and overly-long R&R sessions. If dirt is OK, perhaps a race like Perfumer's is a final option?

PPS. Make that ropy week, for although Million Ways started as a hot favourite, fourth was the best we could do on the day. In reality, all of the other horses in the race had finished second before, with only Million Ways having a third place as its best result. The poor start sealed its fate, and maybe 1400m or 1500m would suit it better. Struggling with this one, even though the trainer thinks it has what it takes. However, at least we have Beat The Boarder on the 27th (TCK 3R) and Trovao on the 9th September to look forward to, as well as some English racing and a couple of JRA runners in-between.

Nose Job

A super run from Beat The Boarder at TCK last night, just being pipped at the post by a nose having led all the way. It was a gutsy performance - without doubt, her best so far - and Shun-kun reckons she'd have won if he'd have given her another crack of the whip at the post. Well, you have to respect a jockey for being so honest, and I'm chuffed with both of them at the end of the day.

She's obviously strong in the summer, looking up for it in the paddock (she usually looks like she wants to go home as soon as possible in colder weather), and the trainer has decided to run her again at the next Tokyo meeting if she recovers well from yesterday.

Future Gazing

Beat The Boarder teams up with Shun Ishizaki at TCK (NAR) tomorrow, while Irish Harp steps up for JRA action at Sapporo on the following day in the 1700m dirt ninth race; Raining Dollars runs in Australia, too, in an 800m sprint. Next, Kalliopeia runs in the 2R at Niigata on the 16th (1800m dirt), and then hopefully we should get some UK racing - we've had a few setbacks on the dates put forward, but with luck Gandvik will be out at Windsor on the 17th. Next up is Million Ways at Monbetsu on the 19th, and looking further ahead, J'ai Un Reve is being lined up for a 1700m dirt race at Kokura on either the 22nd or 23rd, while Single Cask should be out at Niigata on the 23rd; the planned 1000m turf race will be the nag's first run in four months!

Chocolat Sucre

Courtesy Carrot Club

Now this one is interesting, and with only a few shares left and notification she will be running in Minami-Kanto NAR races straight away rather than taking on a Hokkaido campaign beforehand, I couldn't resist giving her a go - not least because I always thought Quick Bread was shortchanged in JRA. Yes, Chocolat Sucre's dam is the same as Quick Bread's, who promptly became very successful as soon as he was given an NAR trainer, confirming my original thoughts on him.

Born in February 2013, Chocolat Sucre's sire is Casino Drive - a horse we have avoided so far, but I can't readily explain why! He won four races from eight starts, and was a favourite to win the Belmont Stakes until he was withdrawn with a sore hoof. His sire was the hugely successful Mineshaft, who brought together the DNA of Seattle Slew (via A.P. Indy) and Mr Prospector, while his dam, Better Than Honour, was sired by Deputy Minister and can boast Blushing Groom as her damsire. The Deputy Minister blood means Northern Dancer shows up three times in the family tree.

The Sweet Muffin element means she's a Nijinsky cross (4Dx4D), with his DNA passed on Dance In The Dark as the damsire, and by Caerleon (winner of the Prix du Jockey Club and one of Nijinsky's finest son's), who fathered the Irish-registered broodmare Welsh Muffin, who in turn gave birth to Sweet Muffin. By mixing her bloodlines, with proven dirt results, with those of a dirt specialist, this could be an exciting prospect. If nothing else, she looks gorgeous...

'Bugatti' Power

Louis and 'Bugatti' did well in the All-Japan Championships, for despite a complete disaster on the backward steps (even complete disaster is a bit of an understatement), they still got 53.3 in L1. Considering we only went to give 'Bugatti' some experience of the big arena, as he's still very 'green' in the dressage world and probably still more racehorse than dancer (both in build and temperament), this is something really good and positive to build on.

Ultimately, I'm hoping that this pairing will promote the use of Thoroughbreds in their post-race life, as they really are the most beautiful and versatile of all horses. Just 18 months ago, almost to the day, he finished his last race after three wins. He started his career with us almost a year ago to the day, requiring weeks and weeks of gentle work before he'd even be sat on properly with a heavy saddle. Now look! Well done to both of them...

There's another NAR runner been added to the bottom of the page, by the way - a filly - and we'll take a look at her interestingly bloodlines at some time during the next couple of days.