Contempt

Already ran out of superlatives for disgusting, so let's just say that Million Ways ran like a donkey with piles. Last! So much for the Carrot NAR horses, too, by the look of things. That was a joke, even by Carrot Club's JRA horse standards. No-one would believe right now how close I am to finishing Japanese racing per se...

The Carrot Club JRA horses are the pits, but recently the NAR ones are doing no better. What have I got for my sign of faith and handing over hard-earned cash? Well, let's have a look:

J'ai Un Reve (JRA): A horse that literally cost a fortune and was never given a chance from day one. If that's the best he can do, Ikee should have his licence revoked as far as I'm concerned.

Tenshinramman (JRA): Months of 'preparation' to finish last in its final race. A G2 horse that missed out on a classic berth by a nose ruined by so called 'training' from a bunch of amateurs.

Massabielle (JRA): A G1 horse and classic runner that frankly looked unbeatable, ruined again. Eighth out of ten in its last race, five months after the race before, and now being retrained. Why? Surely it should have remained trained after its G1 run?

Rush Attack (JRA): A hoof problem, with the club having no qualms about keeping owners paying the bills for months on end (and no possible date for recovery, when I reckon it will be a good half a year), and with no hope of a decent result afterwards anyway. Retire it!

Perfumer (JRA): On holiday yet again after one useless run after eight months away, and then promptly finished last. There is no option but to retire this donkey, but then that would hurt the finances of one of the boys. Can't have that, can we?

War Chronicle (JRA): A comeback via NAR after eight months off through injury. Back in JRA and nothing for months. It will run this weekend with luck, but I doubt it will do any good. It should have stayed in NAR where at least it was clawing back money for all the time away from the track.

Irish Harp (JRA): A useless return under a new trainer. Looks like he's learning, but my patience has now started to run out. One more bad run, and he will definitely feel my wrath.

Infinity Love (JRA): Placed with another 'elite' trainer who promptly dropped it like a hot potato as soon as he failed to get any kind of performance out of it. Another joke, now being 'retrained'. Bollocks!

Belle Plage and Larressingle (JRA): The only JRA horses worth keeping, both trained by Ogata-sensei.

Shine Tiara (NAR): After a first and second, the last race saw a ninth place out of 12 runners.

Chocolat Sucre (NAR): After a first and third, it finished last in its next race.

Million Ways (NAR): Last tonight. It's certainly not Konno-san's fault.

Lotus Blossom (NAR): Supposed to be in Monbetsu by now, but still at Northern Farm with sales being dragged on as long as possible. Going by experience, the longer it stays at NF, the less chance it will have.

Trovao (NAR): Doing very well, but hasn't raced for a long time. This time next week we'll know if that was a blessing or a mistake.

The Shadai TC/Sunday TC horses are not going to escape this resume of worthless trash either:

Pop Label (NAR): A juvenile champion, ran whilst injured. Six months out as a result, and hasn't won since - the last victory coming in August 2013. The move to TCK hasn't helped at all, so it should go back to Funabashi in my opinion.

Phosphorus (NAR): Five-time winner that was out for six months and hasn't done anything since coming back. It runs tomorrow, but as much as I love Yano-sensei, I think it will fail to win, even if it does continue to improve.

Magic Key (NAR): A very costly purchase that was robbed in its first race, won the second one with ease, and then promptly went away for a six-month spell due to a knee operation. If it comes back as strong as Pop Label and Phosphorus, that will be its last win.

Kealoha (NAR): Third first time out after a very late start to its career. We'll see what it can do on Friday. At least I know Mar-kun will do his best for me.

I'd decided to give up on JRA racing a long time ago, and it should be easy to see why, but now NAR is dangling by a thread too. There has been nothing recently to justify the constant expense - not even enjoyment, for there is no pleasure in watching perpetual failure and hearing nothing but hollow excuses for it. Australia is safe, England is safe, and Ireland is probably safe - Japan is in real danger of losing my support if this disgraceful chain of events continues. It shouldn't take much to realize why I haven't bothered going to the tracks for a long time...