More Beer Needed

In fact, something a lot stronger than beer is needed! I had a feeling I'd be let down by the JRA runners today, and the only surprise was that they were even worse than I expected. Rush Attack made a rush attack, and ran out of steam to be overtaken by 12 horses in the last furlong. I don't see much point in continuing with this horse if it can't run a decent distance and can't get entries in races of a suitable length. More disappointing - adding another page in the catalogue of JRA disappointments, and yet another page in the already weighty Tenshinramman chapter - was the 12R at Nakayama. The jockey put Tenshinramman in the perfect position, but there was nothing there when a spurt was needed, and another 13th after being told to expect something. To add salt in the wound, the trainer has said he is putting the horse into another spell of R&R as he wants to win one more time with this horse. Well, I'd like to win the lottery, and I've got more chance of winning it than he has of claiming another victory with 'Tenny' - despite the fact I don't buy lottery tickets. It couldn't win a Donkey Derby nowadays. Carrot Club has to know when enough is enough, and stop wasting people's money!

On the subject of wasting money, I have a note on my calendar to buy another NAR horse from Carrot Club on the 11th (remaining shares are moving fast), but I didn't get the chance with a dressage competition in the morning and then a mad rush to Funabashi. Of course, I was then bitterly disappointed at Funabashi, and the purchase was delayed again when I got back - my desire to support NAR took a serious dent that could take some time to fix. I then figured I'd wait to hear of the retirement of another JRA horse, as almost half of those on my current list are duds. Tenshinramman should be retired for one, of that there's no doubt, for she has proved time and again that she will never do anything with her current training team. I've a feeling I've said that before, but I'll say it again anyway as it has obviously fallen on deaf ears in the past, and today should have proved my point! Anyway, that is the plan from now on - no more Japanese horses (NAR or otherwise) until some of the lame ducks get scrubbed from the JRA list. "One more chance, one more chance, one more chance..." How many times does a fragile horse that's obviously never going to regain the natural speed it had before it went into 'training' have one more chance?

The only bright spot today was a superb dressage performance from Louis - 58.0% in L1, which is something to build on for the AJC. Sophie also did well in A2, but was better yesterday in the middle of a storm - strange girl, but she will definitely improve, as she has a good fighting spirit and 'Bugatti' learns his new craft with relish. Not relishing tomorrow's JRA race, though...

PS. Veteran jockey Yoshitomi-san recovered from an awful start with Larressingle to place the horse perfectly for what was a stunning finish. Although we were second, that was a superb race from a team that is obviously trying, in stark contrast to yesterday. The only problem is the Carrot Club rules, requiring a win to keep a horse for the next season. From my experience, this rule doesn't work, for many of those that win once do nothing else, while this nag obviously has potential, but no win in the bag to secure its future. We shall see what happens next time. Good job from all concerned today!

Where's My Beer?

While War Chronicle has returned to Miho TC to resume a JRA career after an NAR excursion (God help the poor thing!), Magic Key teamed up with Takayuki Yano in the opener at Funabashi, and came second in her debut run. Fine. But I feel robbed to be perfectly honest. The horse in front was obviously tiring, needing a whip off the last corner, yet Magic Key was being held up by the jockey and then starting to fly on its own as soon as it saw the straight. Oddly, though, there was no whip used and we lost by a length. If this was a normal race and, more importantly, I felt everyone had done their best (the start also raised question marks), I'd shrug it off, but these debut races are the only chance to win a bit of money unless you can fast-track to the top like Trovao did. Given the high cost of Shadai and Sunday horses (especially this one!) and running costs that allow you to break even on a good month, this was really annoying, especially when we should have won as far as I'm concerned.

Other big, and much better news - we will have six horses with Mick Channon for a little while, as Blacklister is still at West Ilsley, while a replacement for him has already arrived! The second horse for Lord Ilsley Racing (run by Mick Jr) has also arrived, so it's getting busy in the south of England, and we can look forward to a fun-filled 2016 UK flat season. We'll do the profiles in a bit, as soon as they get named, so watch this space!

Meanwhile, Infinity Love has passed her gate test in Japan, and Tenshinramman and Rush Attack run here on the 12th, with Larressingle also out on the 13th in JRA action. Oddly, I look forward to retiring JRA horses more than seeing the results, as they really that disappointing as a rule, as potential is rarely exploited. Anyway, in the week, Blacklister has another go at Kempton Park in England, and Phosphorus might well be coming back in the last week of December - something else to look forward to, and hopefully it will renew my faith in NAR, which was very badly dented for the first time today, even though my patience had already been tested by Beat The Boarder for months...