Another Fine Run

The ever-willing Blacklister continues to impress, taking his record to 1-6-1 from 16 races with a second place at Windsor, beaten only by his fellow joint-favourite that was carrying less weight. There is already another race lined up for him on the 16th (yes, this month - not September or October the 16th, as would be the case with JRA), and I can say hand on heart that he wouldn't be running if Mick Channon and his excellent team felt it would harm him. For instance, a decision was taken to stop running one horse I was involved with long before he hurt himself due to a strange running style that couldn't be adjusted out, no matter how hard everyone tried. This cost us all, but not one person involved with that horse kicked up - after a prompt from Mick Jr explaining the situation and the fact that a good home was available, we all agreed that he should retire and live a happy life. It just shows the gap between a country that has racing in its blood and one that uses racing simply to fill the coffers of the chosen few, with the country happily looking the other way in ignorance as long as it keeps getting its healthy cut from controlling the betting side.

Just going through the NAR runners for this week, and I don't think Million Ways has much chance on Wednesday - the Demuro horse fielded by the same stable will definitely have the advantage, even with Konno-sama in the saddle, so talk of classics is pretty damned hollow as far as I'm concerned. I've been on the receiving end of this conflict of interest situation before, and just about had my fill of it to be honest. Whether Kealoha will make amends on Friday (also from the same stable) remains to be seen, while Magic Key (yes, same stable, too) is away recovering from an operation rather than challenging for a classic run, as he should be - he's in a different league to Million Ways, both in potential and, sadly, cost. People have been saying they haven't seen me around the tracks recently, but the fact is that I might as well stay at home and be disappointed in the warm, as travel for ages, stand in the cold and still be disappointed. As much as I love NAR and the vast majority of folks involved in local dirt racing, I guess deep down I'm still suffering from that first Magic Key run - a full recovery from that (followed by a serious injury so soon after) isn't going to come overnight. I've even tried retail therapy with another NAR nag, but it obviously hasn't worked, and there's hardly been a rush of visible results to restore my faith recently. Even Pop Label going to Tokyo looked like a good move on paper, but it hasn't made any difference other than putting some of the best grooms in the business on the sidelines at Funabashi. Perhaps Phosphorus can make me smile if Kota just lets him go his own pace - if he beats what will almost certainly be the race favourite, I will definitely crack a smile...

Lotus Blossom sales are still open, by the way, so my experiment no longer means as much as it did. The club now owns next to nothing of the horse compared to the level when it said sales would finish any minute (two weeks ago!), so we can expect nothing special to happen with it now others are footing the bill. The plan to send the horse to Monbetsu in April looks a long, long way off - an underhand bluff that I, like many others, obviously fell for.

PS. No surprise that Massabielle will be kept away from the racing stables, and is being confined to treadmill work at Northern Farm (aka the Wreckers Yard). Apparently he didn't come out the race too well. I'm sorry, but if he'd have been better trained in the first place, you can bet the problem wouldn't be there! The JRA guys do such light work for months, whip the horses into a frenzy of activity for a few days, and then wonder why a) they don't perform, and b) get injured so easily. Do the same to Nishikori, and see if he can win the next tennis tournament, or even get through it without pulling a muscle. 'Bugatti' did a hard hour on Saturday, including some galloping and jumping, then did the same thing on Sunday (dressage and jumping, without the gallops), and his feed is nothing like the rocket fuel racers are supposed to be on. Set him free in the paddock, he still runs like a mad thing (like today), when if you believe the JRA rot, he wouldn't have been able to do anything on Sunday and would have swollen legs the size of tree trunks. If a Thoroughbred is trained properly and ridden properly with someone they trust, they will willingly perform every day you ask them to. Well, we can expect nothing better next time out then, doubtless some time far, far away into the future. I just wish I could cancel my direct debit, not just on this one, but all JRA horses bar those with Ogata-sensei (two of the eight left), for you can bet Irish Harp will disappoint as usual having had too long a break again already, and no sign of a race in sight. Don't even get me started on the likes of Infinity Love and Rush Attack!