Running Out Of Words

A thesaurus only contains so many words, and so I've run out of superlatives for disgusting. Even Tosaki-kun can't make miracles, and it would have taken a miracle to get Massabielle near the front today, as no matter how good you are, a horse that has obviously had no training whatsoever since it last ran last Autumn will not perform. Starting second favourite (naturally, given his G1 and G2 history), he flopped out the gate as if the noise woke him up, never looked anywhere near frightening any of the runners (and none of them should have been able to touch 'Massa' if he'd been even halfway close to being on form), and finished 3.2 seconds down on the winner. Now, if that was purely a warm-up for a race next week or the week after, it would simply be disappointing. But knowing how stupid the JRA trainers are, that disgraceful performance will probably be taken as a sign of tiredness rather than a lack of training, and if that happens, it will probably end up at Northern Farm again - a kiss of death for any horse. Tenshinramman again, with natural ability screwed up by poor care and poor training? Whatever it is, the JRA disaster continues, and now it has gone well beyond a joke...

PS. Tosaki-kun has stated in his post-race report that there was no sparkle in the horse at all, and 'Massa' will basically have to start a race campaign from scratch. Well, that was what I saw, and I would suggest that if that's the case, it's done with a new trainer (from experience, preferably Ogata-sensei, Sugai-sensei or Makoto Saito, although there would be a couple of others I would try because I know their brother or key staff members) and kept as far away from NF as possible. Otherwise, just retire it - owners shouldn't have to suffer just to keep one of the boys in business. 

PPS. The trainer report has come through, and basically a restart is being cited as the way forward. Well, that bit is obvious. But hold on, why should it be necessary? The horse hasn't been injured since its Classic run, so how has it been let get into such an unworthy state? Before saying anything about reset buttons, especially given my pre-race prediction after Larressingle's run, this question needs answering first, so that the culprits are not allowed to ruin yet another horse with potential. Leaving it in the same hands, the same thing will happen, and once more members will be expected to pay out for months and months of nothing except hollow words followed by more hollow words trying to explain the inevitable failure that comes next, just like we did with Tenshinramman, not to mention those that did nothing at all. Someone once said to me that some of the clubs are more like supporter groups. Yes, that's right - financially supporting JRA trainers that don't deserve support! We pay for a service, and therefore expect something in return, shown by sincere effort. If we wanted to adopt a pet, that's a totally different subject to racing.

PPPS. Shine Tiara runs in the 3R at Kawasaki tomorrow, with Phosphorus in the 8R. Well, we can't do any worse than today, whatever happens (they are both tough races, not like today's fiasco, which should have given us a top three regardless of race-rust). Unlike 'Massa', at least Phosphorus had an excuse for being away from the track, having had two operations, and he is welcome to use the same excuse for not coming back as good as he was straight out of the box - as long as he doesn't keep using it for too long, of course! There is no excuse, however, for Massabielle...

PPPPS. Even the Carrot NAR horses are letting me down now, although I have a lot more confidence in Yuya-san fixing the problem than the NAR bunch. Looked to me as if Shine-chan didn't like the sand being kicked up in her face after she fluffed the start. Phosphorus (pictured, courtesy Shadai TC) was fifth, but at least looked a lot brighter again, so let's leave it at that until we see what happens next time, as that was a longer race than usual for him in strong company.