Swindle

Just received the monthly bill from Carrot Club, and unfortunately it makes further mockery of people trying to support NAR. Bills for the equivalent of 680,000 yen a month on Chocolat Sucre and 650,000 yen on Trovao just doesn't make it a realistic proposition, especially when they're injured (something that happens far too often out here) or piss off on holiday every five minutes, and only bring in a pittance when they do eventually run. It's hard enough to justify support as it is, with stupid purchase prices followed by a hefty insurance bill, and then ordinary running costs thrown in on top. Please explain how Shine Tiara cost less than half those amounts this month, being in training, and was the only one of six NAR nags to earn a penny over the accounting period. You buy into several horses to spread risk, so that one can make up for another doing less well. When none of them run and maintenance bills go through the roof, someone somewhere is laughing their head off at the money falling from the skies, but the club needs to start thinking about the future - they've already lost one customer that has spent a lot of money with them (ie. me), while the regular customer base is ageing fast, and younger folks are just as happy betting via the internet; half of them don't care whether it's a horse or a cockroach, but now they don't have to go to tracks, there's even less chance of them investing in the sport. It's a basic rule of business that seems to be forgotten in the race industry out here - look after your customers. Remember, I've been running a Thoroughbred single-handed in Japan for years - it has top people looking after it in a top gaff, with high-quality feed and bedding, the country's top vet and dentist on call, the top massage person, excellent transport to and from events, and one of the best farriers in the business, which means I know how much these things cost a lot better than most. It's far from cheap, but these bills are outrageous. Perhaps when racing in China gets rolling and folks there don't need to spend here, and the new domestic generation shows no interest in ownership, things might change. Until then, expect nothing for your money. Unless, that is, you find great pleasure in getting a cut and paste report every week and an inflated bill each month with no justification for the rise in charges...

PS. Part of Chocolat's bill is from the throat operation by all accounts, although even allowing for that (knowing the price of the operation from inside information), it is still a heavy bill, and I can't see a horse like this one justifying the expense. Trovao had a big invoice the month before, too, so the six weeks of training centre billing doesn't make sense either - unless, of course, we're charged next to nothing next month. It needs to start earning fast to justify all those months of not running whilst aiming for a classic trail that was ultimately cut short anyway.