A Small Step

Kealoha came a strong second, which will just about pay for its running costs for a month - it won't eat into the bill for the four months away from the track, of course, or help cover the costs for the likes of those seemingly constantly injured, such as Phosphorus, but it was a decent comeback overall. Had the start been anything like one expects from a trained racehorse, we should have won it with ease; I guess that's what you have to take away from the race as a positive, the fact that - for once - a nag has returned from NF as a horse instead of a donkey. Now, if the bloody thing can stay fit for more than five minutes (something that seems incredibly difficult out here if recent events are anything to go by, despite the English ponies racing far more often and basically remaining free of the troubles that strike down the Japanese runners with a truly maddening regularity), we might just get a bit of sport from this one. About time we got some value for money out of something, for we're still cursed by a ton of horses out here that either can't or won't run for whatever reason. This one race is a very small move in the right direction, but I'm still a very, very long way from happy with the way my horses are being handled, in all respects. Ultimately, there is still a huge (maybe insurmountable) distance to go before my enthusiasm for Japanese racing returns to any extent, and I have yet to see any reason on the horizon for the gap to close any time soon. For instance, unless a race at Oi, Urawa or Kawasaki is attempted with Kealoha, there's no Funabashi meeting in October, with the next one being in the second week of November. That's a long time to wait, with more outlay and no income once more, just for a different reason to the usual excuses.