Wednesday started with Larressingle's NAR debut at Sonoda. Of course, one only needs to look back through the blog to guess where Larressingle started from - tenth gate in a ten-horse race! Larressingle is a super horse that had never won in JRA, but had come second no less than six times. Its last run was on dirt, which confirmed that sand wasn't a problem, so hopes were high given that Shingo Oyama was in the saddle.
The problem, of course, is the very poor purse - 300,000 yen to the winner, and even that doesn't cover a month's bills at Carrot Club rates, so coming second does nothing more than drain finances to crazy levels (the horse that finishes fifth gets just 18,000 yen), which is hardly a way of encouraging ownership. Thankfully, despite a rough start and the horse not settling until the third corner (the first curve to be tackled), Oyama-kun rode a calm race, hardly touching the pony to win by five lengths.
Unlike Larressingle, Chocolat Sucre got the inside gate at Funabashi - an ultra-rare happening for my stuff! Travelling jockey Fujii-san was named for the ride, although my confidence wasn't much different - my feeling was that even Lester at his peak would struggle with this one! As it happens, my worst fears were confirmed, with a worse and worse run as the race progressed. In the end, it tied with four others way off the pace (a full 1.5 seconds behind the winner in what was ultimately a poor class race), with only Shine Tiara (a name from the past) further back. It seems to hate sand being kicked back, and it hasn't got the pace or stamina to lead from the front. This leaves only one option as far as I'm concerned - retirement!
Meanwhile, confirmation of a cock-up at Yamamoto TC with Phosphorus, so it is they that should be paying for the six months of lost racing, not us. I also heard of blatant team orders within the Shadai camp from a very, very reliable source, which is something I have always suspected - the owners' horses are given priority over the regular club nags, which is frankly disgraceful. I've been on the receiving end of this before, and noted a conflict of interest in the past as a result. It is also not healthy having the same trainer fielding a lot of horses in the same race as far as I'm concerned, but the team order thing is totally unacceptable.
PS. Larressingle is due to run one more time before the end of the year, and if a win can be secured, it will be back in JRA again for 2017. Meanwhile, Chocolat Sucre has been retired - there was no other option with such a fragile horse that wouldn't eat properly, and couldn't be trained properly as a result.
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