Monday Rant

We were supposed to have a runner in Ireland today, but the entry was scratched. I'm not particularly happy with the way the Irish campaign is going if I'm to be honest. Granted, it's a damned sight better than the Japanese farce they have the nerve to call racing, but then it would be hard to imagine any country giving you less bang for the buck than Japan - I don't think it would be possible at the end of the day, beyond someone selling a donkey that ran once or twice a year and spent the rest of the season costing the same as a racing month in someone's backyard, hundreds of miles from its proper stable with minimal care.

From experience, Japan is not far off that, but it's not quite that bad, as you do actually get a Thoroughbred - the fact that it runs like a donkey, on those all too rare occasions it hits the track, is a different subject, for at least it looks right. Exaggerating? Make your own mind up. Here's the NAR review this year (from the start of January), and bear in mind that running costs average 400,000 yen (or US$4000) a month, split between shareholders:

Phosphorus (born 2011, cost 14,000,000 yen) - eight races this year, but results of 11th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 6th are hardly fantastic, and hardly touch the monthly bills, let alone pull back any of the purchase price or the months and months off through questionable injuries in previous seasons. He's been at YTC since early July, going there to be gelded - yes, that's right, a two-week operation. He should have been retired the minute it was realized he wasn't coming back straight after his op.

Pop Label (born 2011, cost 12,000,000 yen) - six races this year, with 3rd, 8th, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 14th being his record, the latter coming after nearly four months away from the track, and two months ago (or at least it will be by the time the intended race takes place). If it does nothing on the 18th, it should be retired on the spot - a long overdue move. It wouldn't be so bad if the running costs were a third of what they are, but at Shadai TC/Sunday TC/Carrot Club rates, no-hopers cannot be justified, especially when the same people keep flooding the market with more and more horses, giving those already in training less opportunities to run and be looked after properly, in a manner their fees should dictate but sadly don't.

Magic Key (born 2013, cost 16,000,000 yen) - two races, including a win in January and a 7th, the latter after nine months off! Of course, the bills didn't stop coming, and as favourite, to finish seventh in the 'big comeback' is hardly encouraging. So far, both Phosphorus and Pop Label have failed to do well since the same knee operation, so I can see another waste of time and money in the offing. The fact that injuries are rife is also disturbing. We will find out today whether my thoughts are overly pessimistic or simply realistic.

Kealoha (born 2013, cost 10,000,000 yen) - four races this year, for a third, two wins and a second. Nothing to moan about on this one then? Well, those four races have brought in 2,800,600 yen, while running costs have been over 4,000,000 yen so far, and that doesn't claw back anything of the initial costs and the hefty one-off pre-race insurance bill. So you can see why NAR stuff sold through the bigger clubs has to run every month without fail, and get damned good results each time just to stand a chance of breaking even. When the cost of horses is so high, it brings the whole thing into question. You try and support NAR, but if nothing is done to try and make it worthwhile for owners spending a fortune each month, there are limits.

Chocolat Sucre (born 2013, cost 8,000,000 yen) - four races, giving a 3rd, 1st, 12th and 8th, with a fifth race (a comeback after six months off) due this week. Well, it's going to have to start doing well and keep doing well very soon, but at least its purchase price was more sensible - and realistic - compared to the heavily overpriced Sunday Thoroughbred Club stuff.

Million Ways (born 2013, cost 12,000,000 yen) - seven races this year, delivering a 7th, 4th, 1st, 11th, 9th, 11th and 9th. Amazing! That last race was in September, and the thing has been at NF ever since. I dare say it will be there for months yet, too, as the three months in-between the first five and last two races of the year did nothing whatsoever to improve form. As a Carrot Club horse, this was an expensive purchase, and the cost has simply not been justified.... again. Over ten races overall, it has brought in 2,020,000 yen, which doesn't even cover the costs between buying and the first race. It's racing career has been in the red from day one, despite two wins.

Trovao (born 2013, cost 10,000,000 yen) - two races this year, including a second and a fourth. At least these have been top level races, but the latter was ruined by stupid rules that the NAR people should have had changed years ago but are too weak to challenge, and ultimately one is now left thinking ten lower class races would have been a better idea. The next race is due at the end of November, but the horse last ran in June (not good), and you can bet the race will be full of JRA hawks looking for easy pocket money, destroying the purse available to NAR folks.

Vertice (born 2014, cost 6,000,000 yen) - the cheapest horse I've managed to get, which should give you an idea of how ridiculous the prices are out here. Naturally, the damned thing hasn't ran, so it's already over 4,000,000 yen in the red this year, with no guarantees of getting anywhere once it does finally hit the track. And Carrot Club is wondering why it is struggling to sell 75% of its NAR runners...

Lotus Blossom (born 2014, cost 7,000,000 yen) - this one hasn't even made it to a racing stable yet, so obviously hasn't got a green light to race. There is talk of it reaching Funabashi this month, but there has been talk of that happening on many occasions before, and it's still in the grip of the vampires (ie. Northern Farm). By the time it finally races, which will be January if you are very lucky, it will owe owners 12,000,000 yen, and the chances of getting even a fraction of that back, with hefty bills month in, month out, are very remote to say the least.

Another Door (born 2014, cost 16,000,000 yen) - eight races, giving a 4th, 7th, 3rd, 4th, DQ, 2nd, 1st and 3rd. Sounds okay, with the late results coming on the back of proper training (unbelievably, given that this was the most expensive nag in the Sunday TC catalogue, the horse was stationed at Northern Farm in its early days), until you realize the low level of racing this nag is competing in. All of this has brought in just 765,000 yen, which doesn't add up when you look at the monthly costs. Now it's going to NF (of course!) en route to Sonoda rather than Funabashi, where it should be, and a very uncertain future lies ahead unless it improves an awful lot very quickly. Not good for a fiercely expensive horse, now is it? You will rarely see anything costing more than this in NAR, and so far it simply hasn't lived up to its promise. It's far from alone if one checks its contemporaries.

Anyway, the mathematics do not make sense. Yes, one isn't into racing for financial gain (you stand more chance with even the riskiest of shares than with racehorses), but the system out here is such that it doesn't allow gain, full-stop - all it does is make money for the monopolies that dominate the scene, the kind of monopolies that wouldn't be allowed in any other country outside a banana republic. If the horses ran regularly and real effort was seen, one could still justify the expense as a form of enjoyment. When they hardly run at all (partly due to getting injured seemingly every five minutes, and certainly a lot more often than in the other countries I have racing interests), and feeble excuses are all you get for them running badly when they do hit the track, the outrageous cost cannot possibly be balanced with the return, financial or visceral. Getting into the Japanese racing game was the worst thing I have ever done. There, I've said it. I have tried to support NAR, but until things change on ownership rules and overall cost (and, more importantly, the cost-performance ratio), I can no longer blindly keep throwing money away. Ultimately, I feel like I have been badly let down, and I'm sick and tired of being treated like a mug and an ATM machine.

The only thing you can say in NAR's favour, is that the JRA side of the business is even worse. Another rant in the making, no doubt, as War Chronicle and Rush Attack - two that should have been retired long ago - will almost certainly have a grey three-liner against them in a very poor attempt at justifying the expense yet again. No firm plans, no firm dates, just a constant stream of bull, since March in one case, and basically since purchase with the other. Or how about Belle Plage, held back for a dirt race that was oversubscribed (as usual!) because the jockey says it's not suited to turf, then gets entered in a turf race the next week, assuming it does actually run...