DJ V2

Courtesy Realta HRC

At about the same kind of time as Phosphorus' race, albeit 6000 miles away so in the late evening JST, Danielle's Journey took to the track with Andrew Lynch at Ayr. The reports indicated that the ground wouldn't be to her liking, and I was getting ready for another disappointment after watching Phosphorus, especially with another horse from the same trainer as a big threat, ridden by the lad that got 'DJ' disqualified last time - her best result in ages, but scratched due to the jockey not weighing in! Anyway, after waiting up until midnight, listening to the radio, it looks like the Cheltenham dream may still be on, as Danielle's Journey won by a huge 17-length margin with ease (her second win, my 42nd, and my first ever win over jumps). High fives all-round - I'm sincerely happy for Sean at Realta...

By the way, Sasagawa-kun - a young lad on the way up - will be the jockey for Perfumer on Thursday, which is an interesting choice, and one I'm happy to stand by. Perfumer's last practice time was surprisingly quick, so who knows? The announcement certainly pleased me a lot more than reading the Infinity Love report, where the reset so far has consisted of canter runs of a pace that 'Bugatti' does faster at a trot. And if that sounds like an exaggeration, ask Sophie and you'll soon realize it's the truth! We may as well say that Infinity Love will be useless - another Northern Farm casualty, in large part due to a system that is too far removed from a realistic race environment.