Vertice has been cleared to race in NAR, and should debut at Monbetsu soon. Meanwhile, Shine Tiara was out at Kawasaki this afternoon, hoping for a comeback to form after a disappointing last outing a couple of months back. Well, after a crazy delay in the gates, 'Shiny' blew the start by just enough to get sandblasted, and she dropped further and further back as a result. Konno-sama finally got her into third only to be pipped into fifth, nine lengths down on the winner. Until the sand problem has been sorted, I don't think we can expect much more. Glad I didn't bother making the trek around the other side the bay.
Belle Plage is still tired, apparently, as is Larressingle, War Chronicle, Perfumer and Massabielle (who might even get ridden next week). What's the Japanese for 'f*ck off'? I hate it when people try and fob you off with bull! If it's not BS, questions need to be asked. As for Rush Attack's foot problem, I asked a dear friend (who, without any exaggeration whatsoever, just so happens to be one of the greatest horsemen in the world) about his thoughts on the ailment, and the chances of an autumn return to racing are close to the odds on winning the lottery. More bull, with more money being taken from Carrot Club members without any thought beyond keeping NF staff in clover.
Two horses running in Australia on Thursday, and more in England again during the week and over the weekend, despite most of them running only a few days earlier. Amazingly (he says, with more than a hint of sarcasm), none are tired - this only seems to be a problem that afflicts Japanese horses, especially JRA ones. Yeah, right.
In other news, I'm sick to death of people celebrating high auction prices, and stupid stud fees that are frankly destroying the sport for regular people. I found a nice article in the December 2015 issue of the US Thoroughbred Daily News, stating: "Best value sire on the planet: Must just about be Kantharos (Lion Heart), who stands at Ocala Stud in Florida for just $5000. From 51 named foals in his first crop, three-year-olds of 2015, he’s sired 45 starters (88%), 34 winners (67%), five Black-type winners (9.8%), and nine Black-type horses (17.6%), including GIII winners." So why pay $300,000 (60 times more) for Deep Impact's services, or $200,000 for Frankel? Time to bring back some sense to things before mere mortals get priced out of the sport altogether...
PS. Phosphorus is lined up to run at Kawasaki on the 3rd June, with Another Door due to make her debut at Monbetsu on the 9th. Infinity Love's new trainer has been honest and realistic - he feels the horse to be ready to race now, but only after running will we be able to tell if progress has been made. Rather than the usual sugar-sweet drivel we usually get, straight is good. The next thing is finding a suitable race, and that's easier said than done in JRA. He's aiming for a mile on turf on the 28th, but I suspect there will be two or three horses vying for each gate. We'll see tomorrow.
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