RACERS REVISITED #2: HARMONY FAIR 

Harmony Fair is an attractive little filly by Symboli Kris S out of First Chair. Symboli Kris S has proved to be an excellent stallion, with Roberto as his grandfather, and Hail To Reason and Seattle Slew in the next generation back. The latter can be held up as something very special, being a Hall of Fame member thanks to his feat of becoming the tenth horse in history to take the US Triple Crown (only one has done it since then, by the way). On the mother's side, First Chair was sired by Jungle Pocket (with Tony Bin as his father), while the dam line is dominated by Sunday Silence.

This looks like the first foal of First Chair's to live long enough to reach the tracks, so it will be fascinating to see what such strong bloodlines can do as a combination. Even going back just four generations, we have an Epsom Derby winner, two Kentucky Derby winners, two Preakness Stakes winners, a Belmont Stakes winner, a Japan Derby winner, and an Irish 1000 Guineas winner in the mix.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Based with the Maki Stable at Miho Training Centre, Harmony Fair is getting closer and closer to being 

race-ready by the day. With regular 14- to 17-second furlongs clocked on the indoor course, she's obviously more than just pretty face - she could actually turn out to be a handy little racer!

As it happens, that early observation wasn't far off the mark, as she won first time out in a 1400m turf race, although she was then rather disappointing at Nakayama. Despite this, she had a G-III outing, but couldn't deliver the goods on that occasion either. She definitely has speed as a sprinter, though, and has a record of 1-0-0-2 so far.

RACERS REVISITED #1: TENSHINRAMMAN 

It's been a while since these mini-profiles first appeared, so I'm putting them back up with their race records so far, ultimately making the introductions on the new horses flow easier as a series. Starting in the order these pieces originally appeared means it's Tenshinramman first...

Tenshinramman was the first of the new batch of racers to make her debut. She's by Heart's Cry out of Hana Ramman. Heart's Cry was the first horse to beat Deep Impact, and also won the 2005 edition of the Arima Kinen, which, although not a classic race in the true sense, it's a classic of sorts as it brings the best of the best together at Nakayama to provide a stunning G1 finale for the end of the year.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Anyone that knows me will appreciate the value I place on Hail To Reason blood, and Heart's Cry's father is US Hall of Famer, Sunday Silence, who was sired by Halo, who in turn was fathered by Hail To Reason. On the dam's side, we can see Tony Bin and Northern Dancer blood combining.

Tenshinramman's mother was sired by Sakura Yutaka O, himself a legend, but his bloodlines read like a who's who of the golden age of British horse racing - Hyperion, Nasrullah (by Nearco out of Mumtaz Begum), Big Game, Never Say Die, and a list as long as your arm of heroes from an earlier era. The mother's dam was Fight Boron, bringing Nasrullah into the equation again, this time via Mill Reef - winner of a number of major races, including the Epsom Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England, and the l'Arc de Triomphe in France.

Based with the Ito Stable at Miho Training Centre, this picture shows Tenshinramman in her first race, when she came second in a classy field at Niigata. She duly went one better in Tokyo in her next race, winning with her regular jockey, 'Kacchi' Tanaka. The Artemis Stakes was a disaster, but it wasn't really anyone's fault, and revenge was sweet with a second place and another win.

Her sixth race was today, and what a performance! Having been second favourite for the G-II Flora Stakes last night, she slipped to fifth in the betting after people factored in the number 18 starting slot. The poor thing ran the long way around for 2000m, got blocked on the last bend, yet still finished fourth, pipped by a nose - the third-placed horse raised its head as she dropped hers!! Her time over the last 3F was 34 dead, but 'Kacchi' hardly lifted the whip. With a 2-2-0-2 record, if she doesn't make The Oaks, there's no justice...

FAIRY ELEPHANT 

I feel so sorry for the Yamazaki family. It was obvious that they'd put in a lot of work getting Fairy Robe into great condition, and according to Carrot Club reports, she was brilliant in practice. Seiji Yamazaki kept her calm despite a jumpy moment or two in the paddock and on the way to the start, and she brushed off the long period of time in the gates like a veteran. But in reality, that delay must have unsettled her, and she stumbled out of the gates - the odd start was difficult to overcome, and ultimately she came home in fifth. Concentration seems to be a bigger problem than speed, so blinkers are being considered, and time will improve things naturally. There's a chance she'll run at Urawa on the 29th, which would be fun to watch...

Meanwhile, Belle Plage had her medical check, and passed it with flying colours. She has now been registered as a proper racehorse with JRA and assigned to the Ogata Stables at Miho Training Centre. She's the first of the new crop to graduate.

A QUICK NOTE 
Mosto Verde has been given a clean post-race bill of health, so should be out fighting again soon, while the trainer has declared he wants Lourdes No Hitomi to continue a career on dirt. The big news is that Tenshinramman is in good form according to 'Kacchi', who took her for a spin on a left-handed poly track today, and if she can take that into the Flora Stakes, things could get really interesting...

PS. Quadrille has been confirmed for the fourth race with Hiroshi Kitamura in the saddle at Tokyo on the 21st, while Katsuharu Tanaka is definitely riding Tenshinramman in the G-II Flora Stakes. Already got a fast pulse regarding the latter! 

POP LABEL 
Pop Label (shown here, courtesy of Sunday TC) is off to Mombetsu in Hokkaido, attached to the Hiromori Stable for an early debut. With luck, the gate test will go smoothly, and we can see this promising young colt in action really soon...

If you're wondering where those articles I promised are, please give me a couple more days. The final batch of research material arrived from Germany the other day, and it was much bigger than expected!

GETTING THERE... 
Another update from Carrot Club, with the new crop coming along nicely. Agua De Vida should be making her NAR debut in Hokkaido soon, while of the JRA runners, I like the look of Belle Plage. Classic Curl is said to have an aura about her, which you can see in video footage - watch out for this one - and Mephisto Waltz is getting stronger and stronger; he has seems to have limitless reserves of energy, and the ability to focus on the job in hand.

Later in the week, Fairy Robe races at Kawasaki. According to reports, she's in fine fettle, and the gate problem has been sorted. I can just imagine Yuya-san's cheeky smile as he wrote that bit! Check out a story on the life of an Assistant Trainer in the new issue of Poco Poco...

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH 
Mosto Verde's debut resulted in an eighth place, but both jockey and trainer are happy, as the horse wasn't pushed - this race was for experience, and with a horse like this one (still far from mature), that's a vital step in the right direction. To get used to a big crowd, the starting gate full of high-tension beasts, and running in close formation at full gallop all takes some getting used to. This little fella has some great bloodlines and the potential is definitely there. It will show in due course.

There are 22 applications for 18 starting slots in Tenshinramman's next race. I do hope the selection process isn't down to luck...

At Tokoro, 'Jaguar' is still having a bit of a rest. No sooner had his signs of tiredness in his ankles cleared than the daft bat went wild when he was released in the paddock and clipped his back leg with his front hoof. Well, he will act like a two-year old if he gets a build-up of energy! Nothing serious, just a surface cut (luckily it's very rare for him to have a clash of legs and hooves, even when he does disengage his brain), but it's another few days of enforced rest with only light walking. As such, while Louis went to Nakayama, Sophie was assigned to 'Merryl' - one of the new horses - who, with a little help from Megumi the lion tamer, went round and round at a rate of knots that frankly made me dizzy just watching. The difference between a canter and a gallop became very grey indeed today!