Crap End To Year

Well, was Million Ways' long-awaited comeback worth all the time and expense? No! Definitely not. As expected, it was a pathetic performance from Million Ways, despite a promising run and decent position up until the last corner. As soon as the straight appeared, it was as if the jockey threw out an anchor, and all the others (all low level nags, I might add) flew past as if the Carrot Club horse was standing still. At a massive 1.9 seconds off the pace, that wasn't race rust, that was a complete and utter lack of training - training that has cost owners a lot more than it should of, too. Two disgraceful runs in three days, and they wonder why I'm fed up with paying excessive amounts for this. It's that word again: Retirement!

PS. The post-race report expresses surprise, but it doesn't alter the fact that the trainer still got paid - we're the ones that have paid out month after month for the damned thing being on the injured list, although in reality, it was never technically injured at any point in its career, just useless. The report says it will be out at the next TCK meeting. It can't do any worse, I guess, but if it doesn't come at least second, it should be retired on the spot, for it's nothing more than a money pit.

PPS. The horse is back at Midway Farm again, which is 70 miles (115km) away from where it's supposed to be based - its home track being listed as TCK. Not only that, Midway Farm sell and prepare their own horses for the same events, so they're really going to try hard to get a rival to win, aren't they? Seeing as they get paid whether the horse does well or not, I somehow doubt it. One thing for sure, though, is that we can safely say that the next bill is going to be huge again thanks to unnecessary transport fees (allied to yet another month of zero income), and we can almost certainly say that the next race will be no better. A totally unacceptable situation, and oh so typical of Japanese racing - too many horses and nowhere near the level of staff, facilities or appropriate race calendars to deal with them properly. The next Tokyo meeting is at the end of January, when I hope a clear conclusion can be made. Right now, I just want to get rid of the damned thing, for it's costing a lot more than it should (that doesn't bother the club, though, for we're the ones paying, not them!) and giving nothing but constant disappointment in return. It should join Shine Tiara, Chocolat Sucre - and Nine Half, the only Carrot NAR nag I didn't buy into that year - on the retired list. And if Trovao doesn't improve, that can go, too! 

Progress Stalled

Pop Label let me down badly, coming a pathetic tenth at TCK today, despite Christophe Lemaire taking the place of Mori-kun at the last minute and starting as third favourite. After waiting ages for the thing to run a proper campaign, I saw no effort whatsoever, and I would definitely have no hesitation in retiring the horse after such a poor performance! Numerous post-race excuses, as always, but none of them acceptable. A serious toothache (following a difficult lower wisdom tooth extraction) prevented me from going to Tokyo, as the thought crossed my mind (I haven't been for a very long time as a form of protest), and I'm bloody glad I didn't, for I'd have been even more furious than I was watching the race from my armchair. Three years without a win now, and with the current team, that ridiculous situation isn't going to change. Million Ways next, but I'm not expecting much better than today, to be honest...

Meanwhile, the main race was a bad joke for NAR supporters, with all 122,000,000 yen leaving NAR circles to go to JRA stables. When will TCK learn that all they are doing is encouraging folks to leave NAR, for it doesn't pay at the best of times? Keep donating all the decent pots to JRA runners and the NAR owners' list will just keep shrinking at a time when new owners are desperately needed in order to replace those dying off, let alone increase numbers.

Signs Of Progress

Masterson was fourth at Fontwell yesterday, tiring at the end after taking up the pace for most of the race. For a flat runner, it was a sterling effort, and who knows, he might have a go over the jumps again after such a bold performance.

Trovao is supposed to be aiming for a big Nagoya race as soon as winter fades, although keeping the horse at Northern Farm in the meantime is not a good idea as far as I'm concerned. In fact, I think it's a bloody awful idea - I just hope I'm proved wrong. Meanwhile, Lotus Blossom has passed its race proficiency test, so hopefully it can start clawing back a few pennies after it makes its very, very long overdue debut. Phosphorus also passed, so can get back into action, albeit an annoying five months behind schedule!

The first time out, Vertice ran a stinker. We were told to forget it, as it wasn't an authentic display of the horse's potential, so had a right to expect something decent this time around, despite the extreme outside gate. Well, we didn't win, but third (three-and-a-half lengths down) wasn't bad at all, and it certainly gives us more to build on than the awful debut run.

PS. The post-race report notes that Vertice will disappear to NF for a while in the New Year. Why? Today is the first month since time began that the horse has actually broken even on the finance side - in fact, it's the first cent it has earned. Now off to Northern Farm at needlessly huge expense, and you'll probably have a donkey on its return. That mention of 'progress' in the post title didn't last long did it? Pathetic! At least Lotus Blossom might run in early January, and that's good, for this one also has an expense sheet running in rivers of red ink.

PPS. Just checking, and Larressingle is now at NF again following its Sonoda campaign; Rush Attack has been there forever; War Chronicle is at the stable so far (we'll wait for a new report to see what happens next, although there are hints of a break being such a fragile horse, bringing into question its worth as a racehorse, full-stop); Trovao is at NF; Vertice is off to NF soon, while Million Ways is at Midway Farm. This means that of all my Carrot horses, apart from Million Ways, only Lotus Blossom is totally free of Northern Farm's grip, which is madness. And they wonder why they are struggling to sell NAR horses. Maybe it's because constant Northern Farm breaks (after we've been paying for nothing other than cut-and-paste reports for a year, ready to get long-overdue debuts and what should be a promise of regular racing thereafter, something absolutely necessary in NAR) pisses people off! I think you can see why my shares in Japanese horses have fallen off to such a large extent compared to a few years back. It is nothing like racing - Carrot Club should change its name to the Northern Farm Supporters Club.