In Need Of A Strong Drink

Courtesy Jenny Felix

Our Aussie lad Raining Dollars (pictured) ran at Home Hill today with Jeff Felix at the controls. Sadly, he got bumped, causing him to clip his leg quite badly - the cut will definitely need some TLC, as it looks quite deep. It's a damned shame, because we were expecting a decent result from him, but that's racing. We've not been having much luck in Australia of late, but, as in England, I know the effort was made, and if we don't win, there's a good reason for it. Wish the same could be said of the Japanese campaign!

War Chronicle ran at Niigata having had over three months on holiday, and looked awful on the back straight. Yoshida's riding didn't help, as he'd placed the horse in a terrible position on the run in, but 0.8 seconds off the pace is never going to challenge a podium spot, and seventh or eighth, 0.7 or 0.8 seconds adrift seems to be the norm nowadays. If it can't get another start within the next couple of weeks, now it remembers what it was bought to do (ie. race - something it's only managed to do a pitiful eight times so far, despite being born in 2012) and show definite signs of improvement on the day, I would personally throw in the towel, as, if nothing changes, it's just not up to the job under its current trainer. Staying in NAR would have been the only sensible answer, in reality. The two other Carrot horses that ran in the same race were 10th and 13th, by the way - another pair of nags that simply made up the numbers up to 15, which is a totally pointless exercise. It might keep generating income for so-called 'trainers' and Northern Farm, but it's just wasting time and money from the shareholder's point of view. It's not as if there's a shortage of horses in circulation - indeed, there's too many for the sparse calendar to deal with properly, so keeping donkeys makes no sense whatsoever.

Looks like we'll be continuing with Mirzam and Masterson for the Box 41 syndicate next year, with a new colt being introduced to fill out the numbers and give us a two-year old to play with. Another exciting flat season ahead then, and hopefully we can get some jumping action from The Jazz Singer over the winter to keep things ticking over.

Japanese Outlook

I'm amazed that War Chronicle has got a berth at Niigata on the 29th. Of course, it hasn't raced for three months, so the chances of a good performance are remote, or I should say even more remote, for we haven't seen a decent run since rejoining the JRA scene the best part of a year ago. Having just got the race-rust free of Belle Plage, the proposed race for the 29th has been dropped, with the following weekend now being cited. Umm... There are gates available in the stated race, so that's not the reason for cancellation. Doesn't look good, does it?

Pop Label and Magic Key keep having races postponed. The planned one for Magic Key at Kawasaki was overbooked, but the back-up on the 4th has now been dropped in favour of a Funabashi run on the 7th. Hopefully it will run properly this time, whenever it finally does make it to the track! As for Pop, I would just retire it, along with Phosphorus.

Rush Attack is still wasting money, too, having last raced in March, and, just as importantly, having last finished in the top three 14 months ago! So, in reality, we are covering an injury that people should have known was going to take almost a year to clear up, and the chances of getting anything back if and when a return does happen are very slim. The horse should have been retired in the Spring. Larressingle should be heading off to a new stable in the second half of November; the future of Another Door hangs in the balance, with another Monbetsu run being lined up until a new stable is sorted, wherever it may be. For a 16,000,000 yen horse to be unable to qualify for Nankan minimum winnings is a disgrace, but this is what has brought about this crazy situation of trying to find somewhere when stables south of Hokkaido are already full to bursting point.

Chocolat Sucre and Kealoha are supposed to be running at the next Funabashi meeting in early November, when hopefully Lotus Blossom will arrive - at last - at its racing stable there. I have forgotten how many times I've heard that, and a spell at a different Northern Farm site before the final move to Funabashi has me wondering if it will ever make it. Whether Million Ways ever makes it back to base is another question mark. Vertice has a race proficiency test tomorrow, and Trovao has a big race booked for next month - some progress at least.

PS. Vertice has passed the test, and will hopefully be making its debut in the middle of November. Before that, Another Door should be out at Monbetsu on the 3rd. Meanwhile, Phosphorus is supposedly doing well - he's doing well at eating, that's for sure. I don't know where they get the idea of training from, as he's now 30kg overweight - a huge amount that will have to go before a race career can be resumed, which means yet more time away from the track...

Whinging Pom

You've probably gathered that I moan a lot about Japanese 'racing' (the racing is in inverted commas, because it's more like a show they put on involving Thoroughbreds than real racing). Well, maybe I do moan, but my observations are not based on an odd rogue horse - I'm talking from experience I've gained over several years by having had a stake in no less than 44 horses out here, via Carrot Club, Shadai Thoroughbred Club and Sunday Thoroughbred Club. One of the big differences, of course, is I've had shares in many horses in England, Ireland and Australia, too, as well as full ownership of two ex-racers and a part-share in another (a famous Stakes winner). I also have friends in the industry, including top-level grooms and vets. In other words, I know when I'm being told bull! Having just seen 'Bugatti' do over an hour of jumping on one day, and go to him the next and he's in high-tension mode ready and more than willing to go hard again, on a low power diet to boot (compared to what he would have been eating in his racing days), I don't believe that a three year-old is "tired" from doing the odd 17-17 canter. That's warming up stuff, not training, and that's the real root of the problem - the horses are not trained properly, and then there's a mad rush to get a nag prepared by whoever happens to be around and it gets injured. Again! From experience, Japanese horses are three to four times more likely to be off through injury (or "tiredness"), and race three to four times less than their UK counterparts. Oh, and they cost an awful lot more to buy, and a lot more to run once your stake is secured, too. Good value? I don't think so. And that is what gives me the right to moan. Ask Mick Channon how many times I've complained over my years with him. He'll tell you that I've never moaned, not once. That's because I see sincere effort and feel like I'm getting damned good value for my money all year, every year. And as with most European and Aussie outfits, realising that you can go wherever you want whenever you want, taking your money with you, I'm treated like a client rather than a mug. Here, racing is more like the civil service than a business! The sooner I can leave this ridiculous farce behind me to concentrate on real racing abroad, the better...

Daiso Goods, Cartier Prices

The bad joke continues with the news that War Chronicle's chosen race is oversubscribed two-to-one, so the chances of getting a berth in the gate are remote. Is there a back-up plan? I doubt it. So, from having what looked like a few Japanese races fairly close together for the first time in months - literally - we're back to diddly squat except for feeble excuses for non-runners, and nowhere near enough races to go around for those are actually are able to run, or jog, as that's probably a better description of the movement they have the nerve to call running out here. Without a doubt, the most pathetic 'racing' in the world, as well as the most expensive - an observation backed up by the bills that have just come through my door, with the one for Phosphorus being extremely annoying (Another Door's win won't cover it, and there's nothing else coming in because nothing ever runs!). He goes in for a simple snip, and four months later, we're still waiting for a return and being charged racing stable rates! I would say I don't know how they have the balls to keep sending out bills like this, but that's a terrible pun given the operation 'Phos' went for. Whatever, like Pop Label, if he can't run (and gives crap results when he does), he should be retired, as he's completely failing to fulfil his role as a racehorse. The fact that he's cute is irrelevant. Summing things up is simple: He is paid to do a specific job, and if, for whatever reason, he consistently can't do that job, he should be fired and find employment elsewhere.

PS. At least the trainer has acknowledged that Belle Plage's run was unacceptable - considering we've been paying for months and had nothing in return for the best part of half a year, a little effort would have been the least we should have been delivered. As such, it is supposed to be out again next week, although I guess the chosen race will have too many going for it, so I'm not building up any hopes as yet. The only thing you can say is this is proof that a lack of racing is the problem (as it usually is), and I salute the guy for not going down the usual Japanese route of saying "it's tired" as a way of covering up a stable's incompetence, a lack of available races and a backhanded way of filtering money back to NF at owners' expense.

PPS. The Sonoda plan is on hold for Another Door, but it has now missed a chance to race in this week's meeting. It should be out next week, apparently. The week after that is the final Monbetsu meeting for the year, but the pissing about, trying to get a horse to race without proper training, and race bans and downright awful performances that came as a result of the lack of training (which we still paid a hefty bill for each month, by the way), has left owners in no-man's land - I'm assuming the Sonoda plan is being delayed because the stables are all full, and, due to Nankan rules, too little money has been earned up north to allow the horse to go to its proper stable at Funabashi. There seems to be far too little concern for getting the best from a horse once a sale is made. The only effort I see from Shadai TC and Sunday TC is in selling new horses and getting the inflated monthly invoices out. We live and learn. At least Chocolat Sucre has passed its test and should be back in action soon...

Joke Racing Assoc.

Sayesse was entered in the 4:30 at Newbury on Saturday, which is a bit late to stay up JST for an oldie like me, so I got the result and feedback from the race on Sunday morning. Ummm. The poor thing was hampered early on, so the jockey just cruised him home in order to give him a fighting chance next time around. He's given us some wonderful racing this year, though (as has Ettie Hart, his stablemate in the LIR syndicate), so he's allowed to cruise hime as far as I'm concerned, as I know 100% that if there was any chance of finishing well, the horse would be allowed to give his all, and he'd give it willingly.

Next up, a rare JRA entry. Of course, Belle Plage got the outside gate (if I cared as much about Japanese racing as I do English racing, I would ask for an enquiry into how I manage to get so many outside gate draws), which isn't a good way to begin a comeback after an awfully long and almost certainly unwarranted holiday - itself, a handicap of sorts. As such, the odds were awful, even in a race full of supposedly similar level horses. Well, it finished 1.5 seconds off the pace, second from last. Great. Well worth waiting five months for that. Race it next week, now it's shaken off some of the race-rust, or simply retire it!

Pop Label was due to run at TCK on the 25th, but for some reason it's name doesn't appear on the race card. There's nothing up on the Sunday website (probably consulting the book of excuses and struggling to find something they haven't used before), but we can assume the bloody thing is injured yet again! Three years without a win, and still the club is sponging off us. It wouldn't be so bad if it ran often and provided a bit of entertainment, but it has run just six times this year, and provided only two top three finishes - it was 14th in the last outing, which, like Japanese racing a whole, is a bad joke...